Insisting on punishing a player for a situation, BECAUSE of who he is, is just as bad as NOT punishing a player, BECAUSE of who he is. The official involved didn't look like a rookie, and we should presume his working at the level game suggests an ability to deal with varied situations.
If he felt threatened, disrespected, or otherwise violated, he had the tools to deal with any of that at his disposal. It seems only the official and the player knew what was said, or why something was said, and neither seemed to be overly distracted by what was said.
"Much ado about nothing".
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