Alisson Becker Fined £8,000 for Misconduct After Nottingham Forest Draw

Alisson Becker has been fined £8,000 by the FA after accepting a misconduct charge for his actions following Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest last month.

The Liverpool goalkeeper lost his cool in the aftermath of a controversial penalty decision at the City Ground, where he was judged to have fouled former team-mate Neco Williams. Morgan Gibbs-White converted from the spot to put Forest in front, before a late Victor Munoz equaliser rescued a point for Andoni Iraola’s side.

The flashpoint came not during the game, but after it. As the players left the pitch, Alisson was seen kicking the fourth official’s electronic board in frustration. The device had already been at the centre of irritation for Liverpool, malfunctioning and delaying their attempt to make three substitutions in the build-up to the penalty award.

On Friday, the FA confirmed the punishment.

“Liverpool’s Alisson Becker has been fined £8,000 for misconduct at the Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest on 29 August,” an official statement read. “It was alleged that the goalkeeper acted in an improper manner around the tunnel area after the final whistle. Alisson Becker has subsequently accepted the charge against him and received the standard penalty.”

The financial hit comes just as the original decision that sparked his anger has been thrown into doubt.

The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel ruled earlier this week that the penalty given by referee Sam Barrott should not have been awarded. Three of the five panel members felt Alisson’s challenge on Williams did not meet the threshold for a foul.

Their assessment was clear. “The contact from Alisson was inevitable as a consequence of his momentum in attempting to save the ball,” the panel said. “The contact made was not reckless and below the threshold for a penalty.”

Yet the goalkeeper’s sense of injustice will not change the result, nor the charge. And the panel also backed the VAR process on the day.

Although they believed the on-field decision was wrong, all five members agreed that VAR Michael Oliver was right not to send Barrott to the pitchside monitor, judging that the incident did not reach the “clear and obvious” bar required to intervene.

“However, the non-intervention by the VAR was unanimously supported on the basis that it was not a clear and obvious error,” the panel added.

So Alisson leaves the episode with an £8,000 fine, a black mark on his disciplinary record, and the knowledge that the penalty he raged against should never have been given in the first place.