PICTURE the scene at Old Trafford this afternoon . . . the dying seconds, West Ham chasing an equaliser and Michail Antonio steaming in on goal.
Just as he is about to shoot, he is cleaned out by Lisandro Martinez. A blatant foul, but amazingly referee Chris Kavanagh waves play on.
It is a shocking mistake.
Antonio chases Kavanagh, bellows in his face and is shown the red card. An automatic one-game ban for the striker, obviously.
Only Antonio seeks out the official after the game, offers a sincere apology, then goes public to admit he shouldn̢۪t have lost the plot.
There is no appeal against the sending-off. No trying to wriggle out of the offence. Yet instead of a suspension, Antonio escapes with a fine and is free to play on.
Now clearly this is something from the land of make-believe. In reality it̢۪s a scenario that simply could never happen.
Or at least that̢۪s how it̢۪s always been until now. Until Jurgen Kloppwas sent off for the same offence a fortnight ago.
A minimum one-game ban for the Liverpoolboss, we all thought. Who knows, maybe even more.
After all, he had raced out to scream his anger in the face of assistant ref Gary Beswick, demanding to know why he didn̢۪t flag when Bernardo Silva wrestled Mo Salah to the floor.
For all the decision was a shocker, there could be no excuse for Klopp̢۪s behaviour. So the hearing to determine his punishment was hardly the trial of the century.
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Incredibly, the independent Regulatory Commission decided a £30,000 fine was sufficient. There was no ban as he “did not use insulting or abusive behaviourâ€.
Klopp, while contrite, claimed he wasn’t being disrespectful but was shouting, ‘How can you not give a foul?’ Apparently, according to the German, with his “angry†face.
So last night he was on the touchline for Liverpool̢۪s game against Leeds. Whose manager, Jesse Marsch (above), got a one-game ban last month for shouting at a fourth official.
It isn’t the first time Klopp has overstepped the mark, either. Which begs the question — where is the threshold for him? A trip? A shove? A slap?
If his actions weren’t disrespectful — abusive language or not — it’s hard to imagine what is.
Any more than it’s hard not to believe there is something in that “one rule for them, one for us†business after all.
Klopp, of course, is far from the only one. Pep Guardiola has fronted up plenty of officials and got off scot-free.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish, Arsene Wenger . . . just some of the Big Six bosses who have done likewise.
Imagine how Beswick felt when he heard the news. Imagine how every official — referee or assistant — felt, in fact.
All that guff about respect. All that stuff about clamping down on players and managers who front up like a drunk in a pub car park at closing time. All that baloney about inciting fans. The whole thing is clearly b******s.
In letting Klopp get off with a fine — and for someone on £15million a year, that’s exactly what they’ve done — what sort of message is being sent?
We constantly hear horror stories of referees attacked by players at Sunday league games. We constantly hear there is an alarming fall in the numbers wanting to become whistlers.
Is it any wonder? Why on earth would anyone want to? Not when those right at the top are setting examples like this.
Amazingly, some believe the decision is right. That Klopp shouldn’t be banned as he was quick to apologise. Amusingly and  ironically, one of the most outspoken was Martin Keown.
The man who leapt all over Ruud van Nistelrooy̢۪s back and screamed in his face when he missed a last-minute penalty for Manchester United against Arsenal in 2003.
Yes, of course we know the officials dropped a clanger at Anfield. But not half as big as the decision on what the punishment should be.
It was nothing more than a Klopp-out. Still, at least he said sorry, so that clearly makes it all right, eh?
