Winter stunned by ‘Beach’ ball strike

October 18, 2009

Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter branded the decision to allow Sunderland’s winner against Liverpool on Saturday as “absolutely amazing”.

Darren Bent’s strike beat Reds goalkeeper Jose Reina with the held of a sizeable deflection off a beach ball which had been thrown onto the Stadium of Light pitch by an away fan.

Referee Mike Jones conferred with his assistant but decided the goal should stand, helping Sunderland to a 1-0 win.

Winter told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m absolutely amazed. It is basic law in football. The goal should just not have stood.

“The laws of the game state that if there’s an outside interference the game has to be stopped.

“Talk about an outside influence – the ball went in off the beach ball and completely deceived the Liverpool goalkeeper.

“I am absolutely amazed that for a referee at that level of football, that between him, his assistant, the fourth official, they didn’t see what had happened and give the correct decision.”

Winter added he was surprised more focus had not been put on Jones.

He said: “I try to defend referees wherever possible having been there and knowing the problems they face but, on this particular occasion, everybody’s having a laugh and a joke about it, but this is far more serious in terms of the laws of the game than when the referee doesn’t see the ball go over the goalline.

“That is understandable with the pace of the modern game and being unsighted, but this is just basic law.

“An outside influence is any outside influence. It is anything other than the 22 maximum players on the field and the referee.

“If it hits the referee and goes in, he’s part of the game. If a spectator comes on the pitch and kicks the ball, the game must be stopped.

“It’s a basic law of the game – one that fortunately doesn’t come into practice too much – but it’s a basic law of the game that a referee would learn on his initial refereeing cause, not when you’re an established Premiership referee.

“The fact that the referee conferred with his assistant, they knew something was wrong, it’s just absolutely amazing the goal was allowed to stand.”

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: bbc radio 5, correct decision, Darren Bent, deflection, game one, game state, goalline, having a laugh, interference, Jeff Winter, joke, jose reina, laws of the game, Liverpool, liverpool goalkeeper, mike jones, pitch, premier league, premiership, reds, referee, referees, spectator, Sunderland, winter

United warned “bully” Ferguson will pay for ref rant

October 6, 2009

Alex Ferguson has been branded a “bully” over his latest verbal onslaught on a referee and warned that Manchester United could face a backlash from outraged match officials.

Ferguson has been asked by the Football Association to explain why he labelled referee Alan Wiley as “unfit” after United’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The move represents the first step towards a possible charge of improper conduct which could result in the Scot being fined or banned from the touchline for a number of matches.

Ferguson’s comments, widely interpreted as being designed to distract attention from a sub-par display by his side and the latest in a string of errors by goalkeeper Ben Foster, have caused outrage among leading English referees.

That fury was articulated by Jeff Winter, now retired but until recently one of England’s top match officials, who said he would not be surprised if Wiley decided to sue the United boss over the damage he had caused to his reputation.

“It was a cowardly attack — Sir Alex wouldn’t have said it to Alan Wiley’s face,” Winter told the Guardian.

“Every game Alan Wiley takes charge of now where he makes a decision which upsets some fans is going to result in chants of ‘You’re not fit to referee’, he’s going to be known as the ‘unfit ref’.

“Sir Alex won’t care though. He’s a knight of the realm and he thinks he’s untouchable, bullet proof.

“But he’s also a bully. He spoke at Sir Bobby Robson’s memorial service a couple of weeks ago and said he’d learnt a lot from Sir Bobby. But he hadn’t, they were totally different, Sir Bobby was a gentleman. He was humble and had respect for people.”

Winter predicted that the anger among referees would affect how they handle future matches at Old Trafford.

“I think Sir Alex may have overstepped the line this time and he may be about to get his come-uppance,” Winter added.

“I think referees will be so incensed about this that Sir Alex may find that United no longer get the benefit of the doubt on certain decisions.”

Wiley’s handling of the United match on Saturday had not resulted in any particular controversy but Ferguson nevertheless criticised the official in a post-match interview with the club’s in-house television station.

“He (Wiley) was not fit enough for a game of that standard,” Ferguson said. “The pace of the game demanded a referee who was fit. He was not fit. It is an indictment of our game. You see referees abroad who are as fit as butcher’s dogs. We have some who are fit. He wasn’t fit.

“He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.”

At 49, Wiley is one of the oldest referees officiating at the top level in England but his supporters have stressed that his fitness, like that of other officials, is subjected to weekly monitoring and a demanding annual assessment.

The Times reported that Wiley ran more than 11 kilometres (seven miles) during the match — more than most of United’s stars.

MANCHESTER (AFP)