Referee Howard Webb and his team of officials swapped shirts at half-time during yesterday's match between Newcastle and Arsenal amid fears that their yellow jerseys were irresistible to Tyneside's insect life. After being bitten by midges in the first-half, Webb and his assistants swapped to green shirts at half-time.
It's all too common to see footballers and coaches laying their hands onto match officials, but your rarely see the refs fight back. That's exactly what referee Juan Pompei did as he struggled to keep a lid on a bad-tempered match between Newell's Old Boys and Arsenal. The video above gives you a taster of [.
Mario Balotelli was booked during AC Milan's win against Torino at the weeked... by team-mate Sulley Muntari. The former Manchester City striker scored a late winner in the match and removed his shirt during the goal celebration. Seeing that the referee was about to dish out the inevitable yellow card to his team-mate, Muntari pinched [.
Fearing he didn't look daft enough wearing his mask, Fernando Torres (or Zorres as he's been renamed by virtue of the mask) donned a pair of fake spectacles during this afternoon's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City. The Spaniard was displeased at referee Chris Foy's failure to award him a penalty in the closing [.
Referee Mark Clattenburg suffered an embarrassing moment during yesterday's encounter between Reading and Liverpool when he realised he had forgotten his cards. Clattenburg forgot to bring his notepad and yellow and red cards out for the second-half of the match. He only realised he had left the items in his dressing room when he attempted [.
Barnsley were forced to play their Championship clash with Crystal Palace in their opponents' away kit on Saturday. Ahead of the match, referee Kevin Stroud decided that both Barnsley's home and away strips were to similar to Palace's red and blue home kit. Left with no suitable kit to wear, the Tykes had to don [.
Throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa there were calls to ban the vuvuzela, primarily because of the ear drum-persecuting drone that they insist upon. Now there's an even more pressing reason to cork the plastic horns one has been used to assault a match official! The sour note happened in the first [.
Nani's red card against Real Madrid prompted much debate as to whether or not it was merited. Most Manchester United fans protested that it was an incorrect decision. And Roy Keane gleefully took up the case for the referee. As if to rub salt into the wounds, United supporters watching last night's match between Bayern [.
A topsy-turvy couple of weeks in Spain has hinted at a changing of the guard in La Liga. Amid all the upheaval, perhaps the most bizarre change of all is Real Madrid centre-back Pepe's staking an unlikely claim to the moral high ground. Despite regularly picking up red cards and fines for his part in [.
A decent Premier League programme meant last night's Copa Del Rey clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona was Sky Sports' least-hyped El Clasico in a very long time. This humorous moment from the match saw Gerard Pique attempted to complain to the referee that he'd been hit by a lighter thrown by Real Madrid fans.
Italian outfit Nuovo Campobasso have been fined €10,000 after their president abused a referee over the stadium PA system during a match. Ferruccio Capone took to the airwaves during his side's fourth-tier match against Arzanese after being angered by the ref's decisions, including the sending off of a Nuovo Campobasso player.
Sunderland midfielder Sebastian Larsson nearly scored the best own goal of all time during yesterday's victory over Everton. The Sweden international unleashed an overhit 45-yard backpass that very nearly lobbed goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. Mignolet was forced into emergency action and had to catch the ball before it sailed over his head and into the net.
The biggest talking point of Wigan's victory over Newcastle this afternoon was this outrageous tackle from Callum McManaman. The Latics youngster put Newcastle full-back Massadio Haidara in hospital with a crazy knee-high challenge, which went unpunished by referee Mark Halsey.
Real Madrid outclassed Barcelona to progress to the Copa Del Rey final last night. Although, it did help that they had the referee man-marking Lionel Messi.
We're not sure if referee Pedro Proenca dismissed England's protests against the award of a penalty in last night's clash with Brazil in the style of an American teen drama ("no way, girlfriend") or through the medium of the Birdie Song.
Chelsea's Capital One Cup semi-final defeat to Swansea descended into farce when Eden Hazard was shown a red card for kicking a ball boy. The lad was not returning the ball quickly enough for the Belgian's liking, causing a struggle between the pair which ended with the ball boy lying on top of the ball.
Occasional England team-mates Andy Carroll and Wayne Rooney clashed during last night's West Ham versus Manchester United match. The pair tangled at the corner that led to Carroll's head-first assault on David De Gea. After a bit of usual set-piece pushing and shoving, Rooney appeared to tread on Carroll's foot, Sunday League style.
Winning a major international tournament should always be a cause of celebration. But Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama did his best to get himself in trouble in the aftermath of his side's African Cup of Nations win by trying to pick up the referee. Perhaps he was struggling to contain his excitement at the prospect of [.
Well well. This is a new one on us. Over in the Greekamateurleagues it would appear that a new scheme is being pioneered that allows referees to show players a blue card for good sportsmanship.
Here we see a Tsiklitiras Pylos striker by the name ofGeorge Kaldis (eventually) owning up to scoring a goal on an absolute dog of a pitch against AE Longa with his hand, with the referee awarding his honesty with a blue card.
Italian fourth division side Nuovo Campobasso have been fined€10,000 by the Italian Court of League Professionals after their club president, oneFerruccio Capone, used the stadium PA system to barrack a referee during a recent game.
Having seen one of his players handed a second yellow card during the latter stages of Campobasso's 2-2 draw with Arzanese, an irate Capone stormed from his executive seats and into the announcer's kiosk at their stadium and proceeded to broadcast his ire over the loudspeaker audible at the 3:10 mark on the video above hurling abuse and insults at referee Gioviani di Grosseto.
There is little doubt that Arsenal should have won the game against Everton at the Emirates last night, but it seems to me that a lot of fans are taking it too hard. Yes, it was a great chance for the Gunners to fire themselves into a commanding position in the Premier League, but we are still in with a very good chance.
Arsene Wenger believes that Arsenal should have taken their chances and also won all three points in last night's match against Everton, and he thinks that David Moyes' men were overly ïntimidating" at times. Wenger was asked what his thoughts were after the match: "My first answer is that we should have won the game.
All Premier League matches will use goal-line technology from the start of next season. Representatives of all 20 Premier League clubs ratified a decision to implement Hawkeye technology from next season. The Community Shield at Wembley is likely to be the first game in English football to use the technology.
Referee Mark Halsey has been dropped from refereeing matches in the Premier League for the second week in a row.
Halsey was the referee who missed Callum McManaman's horror tackle on Newcastle United's Massadio Haidara. After Halsey missed the controversial tackle in the Premier League match in March, the referee was dropped from last weekend's Premier League matches in England and Wales.
1. Last season, a beautifully placed finish from Sergio Aguero won the title for Manchester City. It looks like a similarly well-placed finish from Gareth Barry has lost them the title this season. 2. Ryan Giggs is a machine. The man is 40 this year and he's still capable of winning Premier League matches.
Robin van Persie is still frustrating by the ridiculous decision to send Nani off during our Round of 16 game against Real Madrid.
According to the Laws of the game, at worst it was a yellow card, but the referee incorrectly opted to send Nani off. FIFA Law 12: If a player plays in a dangerous manner in a "normal" challenge, the referee should not take any disciplinary action.
1. Accidentally kicking an opponent with your eyes firmly on the ball is a straight red card. This could be the end of the overhead kick as we know it. 2. Cristiano Ronaldo has perfected the 'walking back from an offside position' goal celebration. 3. Claiming that the better team lost, skulking off without celebrating, [.
The first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal between Real Madrid and Barcelona was as cranky as you would expect from a Clasico. There were six yellow cards in all, but with Barca up 1-0 in the second half, Carles Puyol tried to keep it from boiling over.
After Gerard Pique did a tremendous job with a sliding clearance to prevent a scoring chance for Cristiano Ronaldo at the post, he came up with a lighter thrown from the Bernabeu crowd.
This has to be one of the most entertaining andunbelievable hissy-fits we have ever witnessed from a football manager. The match in question is a top-tier Bulgarian clash between CSKA Sofia and Botev Vratsa and the madness kicks off when a Botev player concedes a red card for a handball in his own area.
For years now, the droning buzz of vuvuzelas has assaulted everyone's ears. But now the plastic horns themselves are being used as weapons against referees. During Saturday's South African Premier League match between Kaizer Chiefs and Golden Arrows, two fans were so angry about the referee's decision to show a red card that they stormed the pitch and one of them hit the ref with his vuvuzela.
According to FIFA.com, Clarence Seedorf had played more than 800 matches over more than 20 years without ever getting a red card in his career. But that impressive streak came to an end just before the final whistle in Botafogo's 2-1 win against Madureira when he was booked twice for not leaving the pitch in a fashion the referee found suitable upon being substituted.
Independiente defender Johny Dos Santos was not pleased with the referee's decision to only add four minutes of injury time at the end of his side's 1-0 loss to Marilia in Brazil's Paulista A3 league. So, when the ref blew his whistle for full time, Dos Santos jogged over to him and then kicked the official in the shoulder.
We can shoot video with a pair of glasses now. With the same pair of glasses, we can also translate languages, search the Internet, find directions, and send text messages, if we are willing to pay $1500 and look a little foolish. I can't vouch for their optical capacity.
This is a difficult report to write whilst staying calm. But I shall try my best. Following the 1-1 draw in the Bernabeu, Old Trafford was the stage last night as Ronaldo and co. entered Manchester for round two. Which focus point you paid heed to most depended largely on what newspaper you read. Was Ronaldo ready to light up his old home with his magic once again?
Early in the second half of an Argentine second division match between Boca Unidos and Gimnasia, the referee was hit square in the chest with a rock thrown from the stands. Trailing 1-0 to the visiting Gimnasia, Boca Unidos fans were angered further by the referee's decision to show one of their players a red card.
Winning the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 1994, Nigeria were obviously eager to celebrate after beating Burkina Faso 1-0 in the final. In fact, Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama was so eager to celebrate that as soon as the referee took the ball from him and blew the final whistle, he tried to jam his head between the official's legs and lift him up on his shoulders.
Police have arrested a 74-year-old AFC Wimbledon fan after he was caught on camera throwing a banana at refereeGraham Scott during Thursday night's 2-2 draw with Port Vale.
Though Scott was visibly amused after realising he'd been struck by theairborne banana, the pensioner wascorralledbefore leaving the ground, then later interviewed by the police and released on bail.
Bananas and monkey chants have been ugly tools of racists at football grounds for decades. So when a banana was heaved onto the pitch during a League One match between Wimbledon and Port Vale at Kingsmeadow, it could have been yet another racial incident to offer a depressing reminder of how much still needs to be done to eradicate this blight on the game.
Arsene Wenger watched his Arsenal side lose points to a direct rival at the top of the Premiership for the second week in a row, mostly due to another totally inept first half of the game.
Yet again the Gunners rallied in the second half but the damage had already been done and they had little chance to reverse the deficit.
Italian side Nuovo Campobasso has been fined €10,000 after club president Ferruccio Capone insulted a referee over the stadium's loudspeaker during a match. The incident occurred during the second half of a Seconda Divisione (the fourth tier of Italian football) match against Arzanese. According to Sky Sports Italia, Capone was enraged by the referee's decisions, including the sending off of one of his players, so he invaded the announcer's room and grabbed the microphone to share his feelings with everyone in attendance.
