Twitter abuse of referee Mark Halsey 'beneath contempt'
Mark Halsey shows Jonjo Shelvey in the match between Liverpool and Manchester United The Twitter abuse of referee Mark Halsey has been condemned as "beneath contempt" by the match officials' union Prospect.
Halsey was the victim of two abusive tweets on Sunday, both of which referred to his throat cancer diagnosis in 2009.
The 51-year-old official, from Bolton,sent off Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey and then awarded Manchester United a controversial penalty in the Barclays Premier League game at Anfield, with Robin van Persie converting the spot-kick for a 2-1 win.
A tweet posted from an account named @johnwareing1 read: "I hope Mark Halsey gets cancer again and dies" while another from @lfcjohn259 read: "Mark Halsey should've died of cancer."
Both tweets were met with outrage from other users of the social media site. The post from @lfcjohn259 was deleted and the @johnwareing1 account was removed completely.
The national secretary of Prospect, Alan Leighton, expressed his union's disgust regarding the tweets in a statement.
His statement read: "Prospect wholeheartedly condemns the unacceptable abuse aimed at Mark Halsey on Twitter. The comments made by a very small minority will be seen as beneath contempt by all decent people.
"The main concern now is for Mark and his family, who are receiving the support of his employer, PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). Prospect will also provide any assistance as required."
Halsey returned to refereeing in March 2010, and is due to officiate the Capital One Cup third-round meeting between Southampton and Sheffield Wednesdayon Tuesdaynight as originally planned.
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Halsey was the victim of two abusive tweets on Sunday, both of which referred to his throat cancer diagnosis in 2009.
The 51-year-old official, from Bolton,sent off Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey and then awarded Manchester United a controversial penalty in the Barclays Premier League game at Anfield, with Robin van Persie converting the spot-kick for a 2-1 win.
A tweet posted from an account named @johnwareing1 read: "I hope Mark Halsey gets cancer again and dies" while another from @lfcjohn259 read: "Mark Halsey should've died of cancer."
Both tweets were met with outrage from other users of the social media site. The post from @lfcjohn259 was deleted and the @johnwareing1 account was removed completely.
The national secretary of Prospect, Alan Leighton, expressed his union's disgust regarding the tweets in a statement.
His statement read: "Prospect wholeheartedly condemns the unacceptable abuse aimed at Mark Halsey on Twitter. The comments made by a very small minority will be seen as beneath contempt by all decent people.
"The main concern now is for Mark and his family, who are receiving the support of his employer, PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited). Prospect will also provide any assistance as required."
Halsey returned to refereeing in March 2010, and is due to officiate the Capital One Cup third-round meeting between Southampton and Sheffield Wednesdayon Tuesdaynight as originally planned.
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