Soccer:The English FA have confirmed Steven Gerrard will face no disciplinary action over allegations he made a V-sign at referee Andre Marriner during Liverpool's 1-0 defeat at Wigan on Monday night.
The England midfielder was booked in the 81st minute of the Premier League clash at the DW Stadium following a robust challenge from behind on James McCarthy, and replays of the incident suggested Gerrard had gestured towards Marriner as well as mouthing an obscenity at the official.
It is understood Marriner saw the 'incident' at the time but did not deem it worthy of further punishment.
Under those circumstances, the FA cannot take retrospective action.
Meanwhile Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has defended Gerrard having reviewed the incident on video.
He said: "Sometimes you move your fingers. It was nothing. We are not considering it, it was nothing.
"All the players know they have to behave on the pitch. I was more worried about the silly fouls we were giving to Wigan."
Liverpool are struggling to claim fourth spot after losing a game many expected them to win. And Wigan chairman Dave Whelan was critical of the club following their surprise victory.
That drew an angry response from Benitez, who said: "I do not know what is going on.
"I do not talk about Wigan. I prefer to concentrate on my team. He (Whelan) should talk about his own club."
Benitez is glad to they have an opportunity to get back to winning ways quickly as they face Lille in the Europa League tomorrow night.
The squad are leaving for France this evening and the Spanish boss is hoping the Wigan result is just a blip.
He said: "We had been working well in the last 10 games, more or less. Sometimes these things happen. Now we have to move forward.
"Hopefully there will be a reaction in Lille. This is an opportunity to put things right and try to get a good result.
"In football you sometimes prefer to rest but at this time it is good to have a match quickly after what happened at Wigan."