On the contrary, shouting that gf comment in public may lead to defamation unless it is VERY clear that it is a joke, (ie the gf was there when it was shouted and laughed etc), since it is a public place and a place where peopl who know the bf and the gf would appear, and that statement would give these friends or public a negative impression of the person defamed and her status in eyes of friends and society would be tarnished and hence suffered damage to her reputation.

Anyway back to Babel's case, its really a tough situation not just with the FA but with alot of other bodies, ie this social media phenomena. It cannot be denied that the social media reaches out to so much more audience - tens of thousands to millions of readers - and the impact can be disastrous if not handled well. The FA have their disciplinary board and rules and one of it is nothing disrespectful or diminishing the image of the referees / FAs should be published in public. One of the factors considered (rightfully or wrongfully) would have been the need to prevent mass flooding of similar messages by others. So sadly Ryan was made a scapegoat in that sense. But on the other hand if nothing was done, and that act is deemed condoned, imagine how many such tweets will appear on players or manager's blog on a weekly or even daily basis. Imagine the pressure on the referees whose faces are on blogs everywhere with not-so-well-received comments and how can they even stand out to the pitch that weekend to officiate a match?

my 2 cents