ARSENAL stand to lose more than a staggering £11 million after referee Gerald Ashby's, controversial penalty decision on Monday night which effectively put them out of the Premiership title race.

But Premier League referees" spokesman David Elleray suggested yesterday that the Gunners should look to blame their England goalkeeper David Seaman just as much as Worcester official Ashby.

By finishing second in thee League, which now looks a long shot after that 2-1 Highbury defeat by Liverpool, Arsenal would qualify for the European Champions League along with the top Premiership club next season.

They would collect £870.000 for doing so and then £2.6 million for taking part in the preliminary group matches.

Further progress right through to the final, taking in home gate receipts in the last eight and semi-finals, would be worth around £11.1 million.

But while Arsenal were counting the cost, top FIFA referee Elleray said: "If people are blaming Gerald Ashby for what they consider a bad decision over the penalty then I think David Seaman's mistake for Liverpool's first goal should be given the same weight.

"Everybody makes mistakes but it always seems to me that it is too easy to blame the referee." Striker Robbie Fowler's apparent protestations against the spot-kick award earned him high praise from the players' union (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor who congratulated him on showing a sportsmanship worthy of providing a role model to young players.

In a fax to Robbie Fowler, Sepp Blatter, the general secretary of FIFA, said: "I wish to congratulate you for the act of sportsmanship you demonstrated last evening in the game between Arsenal and Liverpool.