May 07 2009
Drogba on Champions League English teams conspiracy: “a f***ing disgrace”
…so says a certain Chelsea footballer seemingly keener on turf kissing than putting the ball in the back of the net.
But Didier Drogba’s outburst does raise an important point: who the heck was that referee, and which Sunday League was he plucked from? Well, reliable sources suggest it is all part of Michel Platini’s masterplan to reduce the handicap against non-English teams by ‘levelling the playing field’ with relatively unknown referees.
Two big football matches took place over the past two days, and all attention should have been on the wonderful football played by four of Europe’s best football teams, quality goals and good old fashioned grit. Well, there was plenty of that, but instead the back pages were dominated by highly controversial refereeing decisions.
Two weeks ago a certain reporter at this very site could be found criticising Howard Webb for an error of judgement in a rather important Premier League game. His performance in that match, however, was far better than that of the two referees in the Champions League semi final second legs.
It’s a real pity that once more, poor refereeing decisions have removed some of our enjoyment from the beautiful game.
There is some hope for redemption: Darren Fletcher, controversially sent off by Roberto Rosetti on Tuesday night, could have his red card recinded.
Unfortunately, hope is all Manchester United have that their Scottish midfielder will take part in the Champions League final: no matter how innocent the player may be, red tape prevents the correct decision from ultimately being reached and it is highly unlikely his red card will be overturned.
All of this is of no consolation to an embittered Chelsea, who were left ruing both missed chances and a momentary lapse in concentration as they were dumped out of the cup on away goals.
Oh yeah, and there is the case of Mr. Tom Henning Ovrebo, whose failure to put it his contact lenses that morning led to a frightful furore at the final whistle.Reports suggest he was escorted out of the country under armed guard for fear of enraged Chelsea supporters encountering him. One feels we have not heard the last of this.
