Referee makes police complaint

Premier League referee Mark Halsey has made a complaint to Greater Manchester Police after receiving two abusive tweets.

Halsey received the insulting messages on the social networking site Twitter, referencing his battle with throat cancer in 2009, after taking charge of Liverpool's contentious 2-1 defeat against Manchester United.

And the 51-year-old has asked the police to investigate the matter, a Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) spokesman confirmed to Press Association Sport.

The abusive tweets come just days after the Director of Public Prosecutions said new guidelines for prosecutors on social media cases will be issued in the wake of a number of growing complaints.

Halsey made two controversial decisions yesterday, both of which went in favour of Manchester United, sending off Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey before awarding United a penalty, which was scored by Robin van Persie.

Two tweets were sent out by disgruntled Liverpool supporters following the game, both of which were met with outrage from other Twitter users.

One post, 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."

The post from @lfcjohn259 was deleted and the @johnwareing1 account was removed completely but the national secretary of Prospect, Alan Leighton, expressed his union's disgust regarding the tweets in a statement to Press Association Sport.

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. Prospect will also provide any assistance as required."

Halsey returned to refereeing in March 2010 following his battle against his illness and is due to officiate the Capital One Cup third-round meeting between Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night as originally planned.