Keith Cooper, spokesman for the Association of Premier League officials, said Uriah Rennie was wrong to manhandle Manchester United captain Roy Keane as he pulled the Irishman away from Sunderland's Jason McAteer.
"If Keane had responded by pushing Uriah he could have said he was protecting himself," said Cooper.
Referees' guidelines are that they should not lay a hand on players but stand back and then deal with the incident.