Ryan Babel loves to Tweet. He does it constantly and sometimes, that gets him in trouble. This is one of those times.
Referee Howard Webb once again brought on accusations of being a Manchester United fan when he awarded a very questionable and decisive penalty in the first minute of Man United's 1-0 win over Liverpool in their FA Cup third-round match. So, Babel Tweeted an image of an old Manchester United shirt photoshopped onto Webb's body (right) as a joke born out of frustration over the day's events. But since Twitter is now considered a source of official statements of the utmost seriousness, that image soon became news and now Babel could be punished by the FA.
[Rewind: LeBron James bashes ESPN analyst on Twitter]
From the Guardian:
Webb had incensed Liverpool by awarding a first-minute penalty when Dimitar Berbatov went to ground after a slight touch from Daniel Agger and then sending off Steven Gerrard for a dangerous challenge on Michael Carrick.
Kenny Dalglish, returning as Liverpool manager, called the penalty "a joke" and Babel posted the picture of Webb with the message: "And they call him one of the best referees? That's a joke. SMH."
"SMH" is the abbreviation for "shaking my head" and Babel's attack will almost certainly lead to the FA intervening on the basis that he is alleging bias on the part of the man who refereed the World Cup final and was made an MBE in the Queen's New Year honours list. An FA spokesman has confirmed they are aware of the incident and are looking into it.
Babel has since deleted the Tweet linking to the image and said, "My apology if they take my posted pic seriously. This is just a emotional reaction after losing an important game," and for good measure, "Sorry Howard Webb !" He then wrote approximately four million Tweets joking about going to Twitter jail.
Of course, given the past hassles Babel has endured as a result of overly honest Tweets, he should know that his account is being watched by buzzkills. This probably won't stop him from constantly Tweeting references to The Boondocks and ridiculous stories about buying swim shorts.
UPDATE: Babel has officially been charged with improper conduct. For a photoshopped picture he Tweeted as a joke.
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