‘Rigged game!’ – Diogo Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso slams ‘clown’ officials

Diogo Jota’s wife, Rute Cardoso, claims Liverpool’s controversial clash with Tottenham was “rigged” by the “clown” officials taking charge.

The Reds suffered a dramatic 2-1 defeat in north London that threw up all kinds of talking points. Luis Diaz saw a goal wrongly ruled out for offside, leading to PGMOL issuing an apology for a “significant human error” and Jurgen Klopp’s side calling for an investigation into how these mistakes keep on happening.

Liverpool also had Jota and Curtis Jones sent off, with questions being asked of both red card decisions. Jones was dismissed for a supposedly reckless challenge, which saw his boot slide over the top of the ball, while Jota made little contact with Destiny Udogie when collecting two yellows in the space of 22 seconds.

Cardoso has now hit out at referee Simon Hooper, his team of officials and those in the VAR booth. In one post on Instagram, which includes the statement from PGMOL, she has added the text “rigged game” with a line through it. She has also stuck a giant clown emoji onto an image of her husband collecting the first of his bookings for clipping the heels of Udogie.

Liverpool face the threat of a fine from the Football Association for collecting more than five yellow cards in one Premier League fixture, while Alexis Mac Allister is at risk of sanction after airing his own complaints on social media – with the World Cup-winning Argentine suggesting that Spurs benefited from having “12 players”.