Roma Fans Harass Referee Anthony Taylor At Budapest Airport Following Europa League Final
A group of angry fans were filmed shouting at Europa League final referee Anthony Taylor at Budapest airport following Wednesday's game.
Taylor's family members looked scared as police officers attempted to help them pass through a hostile crowd of Roma supporters.
One fan got close to Taylor and screamed in his face before being shoved out of the way by another man.
Objects, including drinks and a chair, were then thrown as police struggled to defuse the situation.
Taylor had hours earlier overseen Roma's penalty-shootout loss to Sevilla at Budapest's Puskas Arena.
The match had ended 1-1 following 120 minutes of regular play, during which Taylor dished out 14 yellow cards.
Seemingly unhappy with Taylor's performance, Roma manager Jose Mourinho verbally abused the referee in a parking lot at the Puskas Arena after the game.
Referee Anthony Taylor pictured following the 2023 UEFA Europa League final in Budapest
IMAGO/Crystal Pix/Dan Weir
The boss of a charity set up to train, support and develop referees fears that a match official could soon end up losing their life unless things change.
Reacting to footage of Taylor's ordeal at the airport, Ref Support UK CEO Martin Cassidy tweeted: "This is so so worrying to see and we hope Anthony and his family are ok.
"This is why we believe organisations like the @LMA_Managers and the @PFA as well as the @WeAreTheFSA need to come out and condemn such behaviour in this country.
"Mangers comments and players behaviour encourage this and it is on a worrying rise where a serious incident or murder is just around the corner."
Cassidy was speaking less than a month after Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp escaped with only a one-game touchline ban and a £75,000 fine for publicly suggesting that referee Paul Tierney had an agenda against his team.
Klopp's slanderous comments, made in the wake of a 4-3 win over Tottenham on April 30, resulted in Tierney receiving widespread abuse online.
