GOONERSGUIDE EURO 2008 NEWS SECTION

This is our Euro 2008 news section where we provide any news items that might have a significant effect on the matches being played - or sports betting in general.

Euro 2008 News :: Holland beat Italy 3-0 - was the referee right?

Posted on 2008-06-10 by Gooner

Holland beat Italy 3-0 last night - scoring twice in five minutes in the first half - and scoring a killer goal late in the second half.

Many of the newspaper reports today are saying that the Dutch took advantage of a "referee mistake" to score the opening goal from an offside position - but I'm not so sure.

A possible explanation for the referee's decision was that Christian Panucci, who had collided with Buffon seconds earlier and was off the pitch, was adjudged to be playing Van Nistelrooy onside.

By the letter of the law Fifa rule 11 "If a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an opponent in an offside position, the referee shall allow play to continue and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission when the ball is next out of play."

(see FIFA Laws of the game )

This is to prevent a situation where defenders stationed on the goalposts could possibly just "walk off" behind the goal - and without this rule the attackers could be caught offside.

By going over the back of the goal line - is Panucci considered to be on the goal line while the referee allows play to continue and thus playing everyone onside?

I'm not SURE the rule was applied correctly and Panucci seemed oblivious to what was going on around him - but that's my take on how the situation was ruled.

It will be interesting to see what FIFA / UEFA have to say.

UPDATE : UEFA general secretary David Taylor has backed the ruling - pretty much agreeing with everything mentioned above.

(see SportingLife.com article)

Sourced From : Gooners Football Blog

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