Alan Judge has made a public statement to dispute referee Darren Drysdale's version of events after an on-field row between the pair.
Drysdale squared up to the Republic of Ireland international in a match between Ipswich Town and Northampton Town last month.
The incident happened after Drysdale went to book Judge for what he saw as diving for a penalty at the end of the League One game.
The official was charged with improper conduct after admitting 'snarling' at the player and received a four-match ban, which has been backdated.
At the time, Judge was happy to let the matter rest, but the player, whose mother passed away last week, has felt compelled to respond following Drysdale's testimony to an FA judicial panel.
As I said in this 👇. There was no need for an apology. I wasn’t looking for one or looking for any action to be taken. In football as everybody knows stuff happens in the heat of the moment in a game. We all make mistakes and for me that is the end of this https://t.co/ujQsF9lQ4N
— alan judge (@10judgey) February 17, 2021
Drysdale has given an account in which he claims he reacted the way he did after being verbally abused by Judge.
"Alan Judge, in my opinion, exaggerates his fall in a desperate attempt to gain a penalty kick for his team.
"I then processed what had happened for a few seconds before blowing my whistle and decided to caution Alan Judge for an act of trying to deceive a match official.
"As I blew my whistle Alan Judge shouted aggressively in a loud voice at me and from a distance of only five metres: 'It's a f***ing penalty you cheating bald c***!'
"Reacting completely out of character, I took exception to what I considered to be an offensive comment.
"I walked towards Alan Judge who then continued his tirade of abuse as he then, what I deemed as, aggressively and provokingly pointed his finger towards my face and shouted: 'You're a f***ing cheating c***!'
"I accept that I should not have moved my head towards Alan Judge as this only inflamed the situation. At no time was there any physical contact between myself and Alan Judge.
"My action of moving forward was as a posture of authority and with the player being significantly shorter than me, this led to me looking down at him. I then issued a yellow card to Alan Judge for his exaggerated fall."
Judge has disputed Drysdale's account in a statement on the Ipswich Town website.
“I said the incident was over as far as I was concerned when I walked off the pitch and that I wasn’t looking for an apology.
“I didn’t want to make anything of it because it’s a tough job being a referee but I’m not going to keep quiet when I’ve been accused of calling the referee a cheat and using the C word.
“I’ll admit using the F word but I said to him ‘you have got to be F…… joking me and I said that a couple of times to him. I never used the C word. I don't use that word and I didn't call him a cheat.
“My mum passed away last week - which is far more important than this - and I don’t need this hassle, to be honest. Like I said, the matter was closed but I’ve got a decent reputation in the game and I won’t stand by and be accused of saying something I didn’t and not responding."
Judge also says he has evidence that will support his account.
“Our media team have got some audio and it backs me up. Some people have said I should have come out straightaway and explained what I said but I didn’t want to do that. I was trying to help Darren. I said the matter was finished and it was but I have to make it clear now that I totally dispute what has been said by the referee.”
