Man City's Sergio Aguero criticised for putting arm around female match referee

Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero on Saturday came into the spotlight not due to his goal-scoring prowess but for his behavior on the field as he was heavily criticized on social media for putting his arm on the shoulder of female assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis during Man City’s 1-0 win over Arsenal.

Aguero argued with Massey on the sidelines over a throw-in call which went against him early in the second of the Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium. After disputing the throw-in call, Aguero briefly put his arm around the female assistant referee’s shoulder as she began to walk away.

While it was Aguero’s first match since June after the knee surgery, the Argentine found himself as the focal topic on social media with his former team-mate Micah Richards saying on Sky Sports that Aguero should “know better”. Many bashed Aguero while some defended him saying that it is the nature of the game and the Argentine didn't have any ill-intention behind it.

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Under rules introduced in 2016, players can be warned or sent off for touching match officials depending on the nature of incident. While players have been spotted putting their arms on match officials, referees usually take the context and intention before putting it down in their match report which goes to the FA. 

Massey had every right to send Aguero off had she found any malice in Aguero’s move and more importantly, she could have written it down in her match report. However, nothing of that sort is being reported. 

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But City's all-time record scorer went unpunished and in his post-match press conference, Guardiola told reporters: "Come on guys. Sergio is the nicest person I ever met in my life. 

"Look for problems in other situations, not in this one."

Last year, Man City’s Bernardo Silva suffered a ban after one of his tweets, where he jokingly compared team-mate Benjamin Mendy to a cartoon character, was held racist by social media users before the Portuguese was punished by the FA.