Everyone is having their s(pr)ay about the already notorious Thierry Henry incident. That his act was abominably unethical is undisputed; the more significant fallout from his brazen piece of gamesmanship is likely to be yet more discussion about the issue of video assistance for referees.
To clear the ground first: the calls for a replay of the match are essentially unfounded. Click to continue reading...

Right then, whilst I'm here I might as well sort this shit out.

First things first, I WANT the game to be replayed. Having said that it would be an absolute travesty if FIFA ordered a rematch of the game, as it would set an extremely dangerous precedent in football whereby the result on the pitch isn't final.

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For many, cheating is an ugly blight on the beautiful game. Players who break the rules are regularly vilified and criticized. But cheating, when used effectively, can be a great way to help your team out. It is so much easier to score from the penalty spot than from open play with all those pesky defenders around.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC-pF3OHY1c

Following the controversial decision to allow France's goal to stand as Thierry Henry clearly handled the ball prior to assisting William Gallas, it is only normal to have increased complaints and ever growing displeasure at the level of refereeing.

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...Or at least if you had just read the reactions from the fans and trigger-happy journalists, you'd think this is what Henry had actually done:

On a serious note, the 'victims' the Irish team have been refreshingly objective about the situation and have laid the blame squarely on the horrible refereeing and to a much lesser extent on their own poor finishing as the real reasons why the French and not the Irish are headed to South Africa.

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Offside and handball, but the goal stands If I was Irish I would be waking up this morning a very bitter man. The Republic of Ireland had a place at next year's World Cup snatched away from them by this horrendous piece of refereeing. Despite the fact that two players were offside, at least one very [. Click to continue reading...

It's a rivalry that goes back decades. Some say that it's political, whilst others point at matches from the past that have inflamed sensibilities in a world that seems to consider the art of taking offence to be the next step in the evolutionary chain. Both sides of the divide sees the other as being the absolute opposite without ever seeming to take the similarities between their two nations into account.

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If you haven't heard by now, Sir Alex Ferguson has received a 2 match ban (and a 20,000 pound fine) for comments made about Alan Wiley, the official for our 2-2 draw with Sunderland. Sir Alex may have implied that Wiley was "fat", simply by stating that he was not "fit" to officiate the match.

Now we all know that officiating is a very hard job.

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Elizabeth Lambert's name is now synonymous with violent play. What happened to Joe Pimentel (pictured here, giving Lambert the one yellow card he issued)? The center referee basically folded his arms and did nothing through that match - was he suspended, pending some sort of inquiry and evaluation? Nope - He went on to referee a men's game a few days later: the UCLA/Washington PAC-10 championship match, in fact. Click to continue reading...

Only a couple mainstream feminist blogs picked up on the Lambert story in the last few days. To be fair, they're dealing with other things at the moment. Sadly, they didn't offer a whole lot more to the discussion beyond what was already said here. Courtney at Feministing:

I didn't play soccer, but even I can see that this kind of play is straight up wrong and shouldn't be tolerated by refs, coaches, or teammates.

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Sickening is how I would describe the Kung Fu kick meted out by Jonny "The Hitman" Evans of Man Utd against Drogba of Chelsea last Sunday. But lets be fair, Man Utd have included Kung Fu in its training ever since Cantona was accused by a Shaolin Master based in Moss side Manchester of having poor technique in his kung fu kick pictured above.

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Skysports.com takes a look at some of the biggest refereeing gaffes of the season so far. Click to continue reading...

Climbing Walton's Mountain To See What We Might See From The Summit
Just as 'The Waltons' tv series was based on a fictional town in Virginia, Peter Walton's refereeing of Premier League matches is equally phantasmagoric.
Last night, Walton gave Liverpool an entirely illusory penalty which, in effect, saved Rafa's job. Click to continue reading...

Kevin McCarra's Match Report
Defeat hurts Sir Alex hard
Chelsea's belated revenge leaves Manchester United nursing grievances.
Sir Alex screams blue murder: "It was a bad decision, but what can you do? You lose faith in the refereeing sometimes. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea's Didier Drogba is a man who has a beautiful ability to make headlines, be it good or bad. This weekend, he was the victim of a shocking tackle, no, make that assault from Manchester United's Johnny Evans. He then had the last laugh, darting across Edwin Van Der Sar in an offside position for John Terry's late goal.

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Sir Alex is rightfully miffed!

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Sir Alex Ferguson hit out at referee Martin Atkinson after watching his side lose 1-0 to rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

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Watch this interview with a local reporter (Jared Lloyd/Desert News) who covered this match. He points out that the "refs allowed" for a "physical game" - and offers a well informed perspective on the tone of the game (explaining New Mexico's use of a physical style of play to break up BYU's movement up and down the field). Click to continue reading...

COS Columnist Jonny Carter continues to discuss the enigma that is Mr. Benitez. Part One can be seen by CLICKING HERE.

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Part II...

I found it a little shameful that Rafa was content to excuse the current Liverpool form with an injury crisis.

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Last night's Match of the Day was great fun, for obvious reasons.  But as the games wore on, I couldn't help feel sorry for Hull City.  Here we saw them lose 2-0 at Burnley, and fall victim to some fairly ordinary refereeing.  When you're struggling these things seem to happen, and Phil Brown is now under a lot of pressure (as if he wasn't before).

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Since 1958 Pelé had become known as the best player in the world, and there were great expectations to the Brazilian national team as the World Cup returned to South America, to Chile specifically.It was sadly one of the most vile tournaments in terms of fair play and bad refereeing, with some matches that will only go over to history for their violence, notably Yugoslavia-USSR and Chile-Italy. Click to continue reading...

The playoffs opened up last night in front of a raucous 30,000 + fans at Qwest Field in Seattle last night, but the expansion Sounders went home disappointed as they failed to find the back of the net in their 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo.

With the tie, Houston now only has to win at home when the series resumes on November 8th to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

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It's been awhile since I've done a round-up of links, but as we wait for the MLS Playoffs to start, this is a good time to do some reading:
World Cup in the U.S. could mean $5-Billion Windfall - L.A. Times
Roma's Captain Totti Undergoes Knee Surgery - USA Today
Forget Fergie, A Real refereeing crisis is looming - Graham Poll - The Daily Mail
Rangers and Celtic's barbaric Old Firm bigotry is last thing we need down here: Martin Samuel - The Daily Mail
In Italy the Ultras give the orders - La Gazzetta dello Sport
Bodies of murdered soccer players returned to Colombia - Colombia News
French League Boss defends late decision to call off game despite violence - Canadian Press
Swine Flu strikes Bolton - AFP
Fenerbahce preserves home dominance in derby classic - Today's Zaman
Palermo salvages SuperClasico draw - ESPN Click to continue reading...

1. A 2 Goal cushion is totally enough to kill off the game. We simply must stop letting teams think they have a chance even when they're two down.

2. We need to buy a goal keeper. Almunia is inadequate, Mannone is too young, Fabianski is scary and Sczesczny cannot get a jersey because the Nike cannot spell his name.

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Pity the lonely referee at the side

With Arsenal only playing on Sunday night, I will not start to preview the game just yet. Today's topic may not impact Arsenal at least for the current season but depending on how it turns out, may have a large bearing for Arsenal. The Europa League was introduced this season to replace the old UEFA Cup.

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Mike Jones wasn't the only ref to have a bad week.Graham Poll (gleefully?) points out that a collection of game officials had a controversial merry go round kind of experience at the Chelsea - Aston Villa game.These have been named as being Steve Bennett,Paul Rejer,Kevin Friend and Nigel Marriott.

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Speaking to many of my friends, there was the suggestion that Birmingham were no real enemy and Saturday's match was just a routine three points. Not for me.
Birmingham are the masters of PR management. It is easy to forget that it wasn't just Eduardo's injury that went against Arsenal on that fateful day at St. Click to continue reading...

Here is a quote from The Sun website:

The union for referees has demanded the FA get tough with the Manchester United boss for accusing Alan Wiley of being unfit. Ferguson accused Wiley of being unfit to referee United's clash with Sunderland at Old Trafford last Saturday.

It is a clear smoke screen to divert attention from Wiley being in Fergies pocket, after Wiley played enough extra time for Man Utd to score in injury time (again).

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Sunderland the victims of an Old Trafford injury time goal this time, to make the final score 2-2. It was pleasing to see Man Utd not win but it is funny (not) to see that the ref was Alan Wiley.

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Skipper gives fellow players wake up call

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John Terry has launched a scathing attack on his Chelsea team-mates for not fighting hard enough in their defeat to Wigan.

The previously unbeaten Blues were stunned by Roberto Martinez's side at the weekend after slumping to a surprise 3-1 loss.

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Back in June, as Major League Soccer was finding its stride on the other side of the Atlantic, Michel Platini and UEFA confirmed that this year's Europa League would be the testing ground for a new officiating structure.

By adding an 'additional assistant referee' behind each goal line, Platini hopes to do away with the cheating which occurs in the penalty area, from a playful tug on the shirt at a corner to the game's crime of the moment, diving.

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As sourced from The Guardian. The link presents the evidence that Man Utd get more injury time when they are loosing compared to when there are drawing or winning.

The Guardian has looked at all of United's league matches at Old Trafford since the start of the 2006-07 season and discovered that, on average, there has been over a minute extra added by referees when United do not have the lead after 90 minutes, compared to when they are in front.

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OK Man Utd 4 - 3 Man City and a late late goal.... covered elsewhere on this blog. However, while Craig Bellamy is in the headlines for slapping a fan who is  "charged with going onto a playing area without lawful authority or excuse", Gary Neville is branded a lunatic for his celebrations in front of the Man City fans.

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Man Utd 4-3 Man City with the winning goal scored in the 6th minute of added time. Even ex red and City Manager Mark Hughes was enraged and after all he knows the play til you win rules and on this occasion those rules must have been exceeded .

For the record:

Referee: Martin Atkinson, Fourth official: Alan Wiley

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When confronted with the accusation that she'd threatened to kill the line judge, echoing John McEnroe's mantra of complaint, Serena Williams looked at the officials and asked "Are you serious?"
Williams had lost her cool, that much is indisputable. This happens to many of the best athletes when things aren't going as they'd hoped and planned. Click to continue reading...

"Boys, diving is back on the menu".

That might be the most potent message after seeing England's game against Slovenia. And no, UEFA is not going to do any retrospective video refereeing because it is lowly Slovenia. Rooney can pull a player's shirt blatantly, fall down, and pretend he got fouled without retribution.

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