Russia v Portugal....Handball?

[duffman 10]

Just caught the last few minutes of the first half and saw the sending off. IMO it wasn't handball, his hand came down to the ground, it didn't touch the ball. Maybe the ref had a blocked view but he has to be 100% to send him off. Bad desicion and could this send the Russians out of the tounament?

[Smiler 10]

I agree. How could the ref have told whether he touched the ball. It was hard enough to decide with several TV angles.

[t020 11]

Not a handball IMO and even if it was I think automatic red cards are a bit harsh in that situation and not proportional to other punishments.

[raskel 10]

i fink it was a hand ball, fair enough it was an accident, n as a goaly its his natural reaction, but his hand definatly hit the ball to the ground!!

 

good decision i think from ref:thumbsup:

[Ned Ludd 10]

As a qualified ref. I would say it was diabolical.

When you fall to the ground, instinct means that your hand reaches out for first contact and I think that this I what happened.

On realising the proximity of the ball he tried to move his hand away. At worst he brushed the ball accidentally. As it didn't appear to be deliberate the game should have continued without being stopped.

After seeing van Nistelrooy (or whatever his name is) being thrown about in the Germans penalty area without the giving of a penalty, I can only say that the consistency of refereeing in this

tournament is poor

[saxon51 10]

As the referee didn't have the benefit of replay he made a snap decision. The wrong one. However, on the slo-mo footage the ball wasn't touched as it clearly spun at the same speed throughout and I would imagine a goalies glove would be 'sticky' enough to effect that spin if contact was made.

 

Just a point though, didn't the goalie accept the decision well and with good conduct!! Good for him, tough on his team.

[duffman 10]

Originally posted by markham

Just a point though, didn't the goalie accept the decision well and with good conduct!! Good for him, tough on his team. [/b]

 

He did very well, but I think that was because Russia had been cautioned over their conduct from the previous games sending off. However it was unfortunate that a spectator ran on to the pitch to protest against the ref:(