Virgil van Dijk has been banned for one further match and fined £100,000 for using abusive and insulting words to match officials following his sending off at Newcastle a fortnight ago.
The Liverpool captain was shown a straight red card for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity when fouling Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, but was seen visibly remonstrating with referee John Brookes and fourth official Craig Pawson.
Van Dijk appeared to label the decision a ‘f***ing joke’ and took his time to leave the field of play, before further complaining as he went down the tunnel at St James’ Park.
The Dutchman missed Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa but will now also be suspended for the trip to Wolves next weekend.
As Mail Sport reported in the immediate aftermath of the incident, the defender risked facing further punishment than the one-match ban he was handed for the red card.
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk has been banned for an extra match and fined £100,000 for using ‘abusive and insulting’ language towards referee John Brooks against Newcastle last month
The defender appeared to label the decision a ‘f***ing joke’ and took his time to leave the field
He was subsequently charged with improper conduct and has now been given an extra ban of a further game, plus a £100,000 fine.
An FA statement on Friday night read: ‘The defender admitted that he acted in an improper manner and used abusive and insulting words towards a match official after being sent off in the 29th minute.
‘The sanctions were subsequently imposed by an independent Regulatory Commission. Full written reasons for this case will be published in due course.’
Van Dijk told Dutch reporters during this week’s international break – he played 90 minutes during the win over Greece on Thursday – that it was out of character.
‘That was not typical for me,’ he said.
The Football Association issued a statement on Friday afternoon, which read: ‘The defender admitted that he acted in an improper manner and used abusive and insulting words’
Jurgen Klopp will now be without the centre back for the Reds’ trip to Wolves next weekend
‘But it was the red card anyway. I’ve never got one before at Liverpool, and I think only about four times in my entire career. But apart from that I still started the season well.’
Liverpool, who were 1-0 behind when Van Dijk was given his marching orders, came back to win thanks to two late goals from substitute Darwin Nunez.
The Reds kept a clean sheet in Van Dijk’s absence against Aston Villa last weekend, winning 3-0 with Joe Gomez and Joel Matip at the heart of defence.
Van Dijk’s Netherlands are preparing to take on Ireland in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Sunday.
