Help get goal award overturned (From Watford Observer)

brilliant.

Quite right, why should Eustace be made accountable for a referee's mistake?

Mind you, he ought to be blamed for that terrible tackle that lead to the penalty.

After emailing the address given, I just got this response from the football league:

Dear Sir

Thank you for your email.

To clarify, disciplinary procedures fall under the jurisdiction of The Football Association and it will be necessary to contact that organisation in this regard. The following link may be helpful:

http://www.thefa.com
/feedback/

Patricia Brown
Customer Services
The Football League
www.football-league.
co.uk

in response to:

Please rescind John Eustace's yellow card for Watford vs Reading. This is the least you can do after allowing such incompetence to take place on the pitch. The goal was an own goal by the referee and linesman. NOT John Eustace.

I have recd a reply back from Keith Hackett today - see below but why not email him direct too !!! - : KHackett@pgmol.com - Here is his reply to me eariler this morning: I fully understand your disappointment surrounding the goal that never was last week. I have to say that I have seen nothing like it and when I reviewed the DVD I was amazed that the officials got it so badly wrong.

Within minutes of the game my Colleague Paul Rejer spoke to the media apologising and explaining the error.

This was followed up by David Allison the National List Manager

The match officials involved will serve the appropriate punishment which probably falls short of tying them up to a post and shooting them at dawn.

The facts are that we are dealing with human beings and they tend at times to get things wrong despite all the training and experience that they have to achieve the elite positions in the game.

The Referee was placed in a difficult position with his colleague giving a robust and precise input into the decision making process by strongly advising that the ball had crossed the line.

The Referee should have seen that the ball was outside the posts. He did not have that view which was obscured by players of both teams.

We can with Video look and see the results of any decision.

We can like TV pundits ponder over it and eventually agree that it was wrong.

Match Officials have parts of a second to make theirs. They have to SEE, they have to THINK then they have to DECIDE ON THE DECISION


We cannot unlike the media however use those technical aids to improve our decision making because the governing body (FIFA/IFAB) will not allow it.

Interestingly the Premier League working with Hawkeye developed the product but we are not allowed to use it. Reading was the club where we used their facilities for testing.

I still am a great supporter of technology but unfortunately FIFA and UEFA are not.

So we will get on those rare occasions a human error

Thank you for putting your response into me. I hope that this event does not diminish your love or enthusiasm for the game.

Thankfully it was an error perhaps not has big as that of the Captain of the Titanic1

Regards

Keith Hackett

General Manager

Hope this helps you all in directing your emails and lets get behind the boys tonight - Shorty

Keith Hackett - what a prat!!

Perhaps someone should remind him of the following in the light of the FA's statement....

It's February 1999 and Arsenal are playing Sheffield United in the cup. After a foul on a United player Ray Parlour takes a throw on with the intention of giving the ball back to Sheffield. Nwankwo Kanu, newly arrived in England, seizes on the ball and crosses for Marc Overmars who scores. Arsenal win 2-1.

Arsene Wenger immediately offers to replay the game. With the sanction of David Davies, at the time Chief Executive of the FA, Steve Double (FA spokesman) announces that the game will be replayed. And that WAS actually a goal, albeit an unsportsmanlike one.

Don't want to replay as we'd probably lose knowing our luck but the above just goes to prove that the FA hasn't got a clue what it's doing.

my reply from Hackett:
I will respond by stating that no one within refereeing circles is other than disappointed about this very poor decision
I have already spoken to both officials and they too regret the decision
You must remember that they are human and humans do make mistakes
The Captain of the Titanic is testament to that
The Assistant flagged because in an instant he thought that the ball had crossed the line
So given this week ends error you can understand my personal disappointment in the summer when FIFA the governing body refused us to introduce Hawkeye
This would have overcome this error
At the point of the decision the view afforded to the referee was obstructed by players has the ball bounced around
He therefore was suprised but went along with the Assistants view and decision
Something that he regrets
He will not be officiating his scheduled PremierLeague appointment in the middle but holding up the numbers board
On behalf of the PGMOL and theMatch officials plerase acceptmy apologies for this serious error
Regards
Keith Hackett

the more i think about it the more I believe that the only actual solution to this is to put pressure on Reading to give us a goal at the madjeski in Jan 09. As soon as we start off, just allow doyley to score from open play. We're 1-0 up with 90 mins to go, Reading do their bit, we get a deserved advantage, doyley gets his 1st goal. Everyone wins! Except for the football league who are responsable for this farcical situation spiralling out of control anyway.

Yes Mr Hackett, The FA and others, we are only too aware that the bungling officials are human and yes humans do make mistakes, we all do that and I make my fair share, however that said is it not the case that when so much hinges on decisions like this, and in some case it could be the existence of a club you have absolutely no means of redress for the injured party, except when it suits, as previously mention there is a precedence set, when a referee admits a mistake on a booking /red card, the FA can rescind it, if an incident is not seen the FA can punish the club or player, why can you not erase the goal that never was from the final scoreline after all, the points mentioned earlier prove that the referee's decision is not sacrosanct any more and hasn't been for a long while ever since video evidence was introduced. The FA had a superb golden chance to gain much needed respect ( yes that word that is one sided when the FA are concerned )by wiping the goal off, but no they choose to sit with one thumb in their mouths and the other up their backsides. Mr Hackett you should be doing everything to protect your referees and that includes lobbying the FA for a rule change, yes to accept touchline technology but also so that they are not crucified for a glaring mistake that was so obviously wrong by having an adequate system in place to deal with the human element.

Don't be silly... Doyley couldn't score even if the Reading players allowed him a free shot on goal. This is the player who somehow managed to pull his hamstring while mis-kicking the ball when there were no opposition players anywhere near him.

Anyway my thoughts are that clubs can be deducted points for wrong doing and so why can't a club be awarded points if they are wronged. You can't take the point away from Reading now the game is over but what is wrong with simply awarding Watford another 2 points, or even one point as a gesture.

I have just sent the following to Mr Hackett. If and when I get a reply I will let you all know.

"Dear Mr Hackett,

I feel that I should advise you that I am a Watford supporter, but even more importantly I am a lover of football and used to be a referee, and although I made my mistakes I would admit to them and apologise as soon as I realised I had been wrong. I am also involved in helping out my local village team at Under 10 level.

I used to be a referee in the local leagues but decided to stop for a number of reasons. The main reasons were: I had too many other commitments, I wasn't enjoying refereeing adults as the respect for referees had declined, the attitude of the authorities was not helping the referees at a local level.

The incident on Saturday will certainly not help the RESPECT campaign, and if anything the respect that players and fans had for the officials and administrators will be greatly diminished now. Not so much because of the mistake, which was unforgiveable, but the inaction by everybody to put it right. In a situation like this it would make sense for the authorities to award Watford with an extra goal, and this would then mean that they should have 3 points, instead of just 1. However, it would not be fair to penalise Reading and so they should retain their one point. If the FA have the power to deduct points they must also have the power to award points when clubs have been wronged.

To say that the referee's decision is final, and once he blows the whistle to restart the game cannot be changed is in fact wrong. A player can appeal against being shown a red card after the match and even if the referee does not wish to rescind the card himself the FA can over-rule him. In this case the referee can reverse his own decision and also the FA can reverse the decision.

The excuse given that Mr Bannister was insistent that the goal should be given does not support Mr Atwell's case. The man in the middle has to take the final decision and if he had any doubts about the goal being awarded he should have told his assistant. I am afraid that this has made Mr Atwell appear weak, indecisive and not up to the task. It might also have been a good idea if the other referee's assistant had said what he saw and the fourth official could have added his opinion. I do not know if the officials were all 'miked up' or not, but if they were they did not take full advantage of this. It would appear that the only person in the stadium who thought the goal should be awarded was Mr Bannister. The only thing that Mr Bannister should have said was that the ball had crossed the line, but Mr Atwell should have advised him that it was out of play but not between the posts and so a corner should be awarded.

I agree that they have not been helped by the players, but after they spoke at half-time nothing was done by anybody to try and rectify the situation. Players have received cautions and Mr Boothroyd was sent to the stands, because of their reaction to this incident. Will you, as the man in charge of referees, be making a public apology to them on behalf of the officials concerned and also be asking the FA to rescind the punishments given to those concerned?

There have been too many incidents of seriously bad decisions being made over recent seasons including Mr Clattenburg's non goal for Spurs against Manchester United, Mr Walton's award of a penalty to Everton for handball when a Watford player (Chris Powell) clearly headed the ball. There are many more instances that reach the attention of all fans and it appears to be happening more frequently.

It is time that the authorities realised that there are many fans who are spending a fortune to follow their team who are starting to lose their trust in players, officials and the authorities and see the sport becoming a joke. Something needs to be done. It is interesting to see that an independent panel has found in favour of Sheffield United, changing an FA ruling. I wonder what an independent panel would say about this incident? I don't want football to go that way, but if the leaders in the game don't make the right decisions, then I can't see how else things like this can be resolved.

Yours sincerely,"

Spot on, would have probably added the fact that Reading should also be charged with unsporting behaviour.

He's replied and I have answered him. It may look a bit muddled in this as it does not copy and paste in colour! However you will be able to tell from the tone what he said and what I said and I am putting KH before his bits and HH before mine.

"Dear Mr Hackett,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I appreciate that you must be very busy at the moment, especially as you will be receiving many e-mails from unhappy Watford supporters.

KH: Thank you for taking the trouble to write and express your views which I could have answered by cutting and pasting the many responses that I have made about this very poor decision.

I will however not go down this route because I believe that your lengthy email deserves an appropriate response

Firstly on behalf of the Referee Assistant Referee and the PGMOL I apologise for this amazing error.

HH:Is this going to be a public apology made directly to the club and fans, or just in e-mail or letter form to those who write to you?

KH: You would not have expected it from a junior referee taking his first game in the local park.

That over with we are dealing with human beings and just like players and managers in a game they make incorrect judgments.

The manager who has lost the game can be accused of not preparing them correctly or not selecting the best team.

HH:Managers and assistants have been sacked for such mistakes. While I don't want to see anybody lose their living it will be interesting to see what really happens to Mr Atwell and Mr Bannister.

KH: That player who misses an open goal or the goalkeeper that fails to make a save.

It is in that context that we have to move in that human beings make mistakes.

HH: And they have to admit to their mistakes and take the consequences - there has been very little said by Mr Atwell and Mr Bannister.

KH: Try talking to Cunard the owners of Titanic about their Captain hitting an Iceburg.

HH: The shock of the Titanic disaster actually brought about the death of the Cunard owner, after it sent him into ill health, the captain died and his family had to live with the stigma of being the family of the man who sank the Titanic and lost so many lives. The company did not then just say sorry and do nothing about it! This is not a very helpful analogy really - sorry I teach History!!

KH: He got it wrong also.

The system I operate ensures that every official is accountable. The Referee was scheduled to do a couple of games this week one in the Premier League where he will now be holding the Board rather than the whistle. The other was a Carling Cup game on the East Coast

HH: How will this help Mr Atwell's development as a referee? What will happen to Mr Bannister, who was so instrumental in making Mr Atwell award a goal?

KH: I note your comments about incidents which by the way on average are over 2000 in a game of football.

HH: Only 3 or 4 (about 0.1%) can be as influential in most games and this was blatant to all who saw bar one man. Quantity is no excuse.

KH: I have been a strong supporter of Goal Line Technology and convinced the Premier League to invest over 500k in this particular project.

HH: Goal line technology was not needed here, but the support of the assistant on the half-way line and the fourth official would have sorted this out in no time - they are a team and should have acted as one. They should also take the consequences as one.

KH: Having secured thanks to the good work of HAWKEYE a system that would overcome these problems can you understand my frustration when FIFA informed us that it could not be introduced.

So we have the answer to overcoming the problem you faced at Watford but the Governing body will not allow its introduction.

When you start to look at outcomes following a match these are in the hands of the Football Association who are in turn governed by FIFA.

I might inform you that when appealing a Red Card a club must demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that the Referee had made a serious and abvious error.

HH: The evidence is overwhelming and demonstrates beyond any reasonable doubt that the Referee had made a serious and obvious error, the mistake has been admitted and you have apologised for it, and the matter should not rest there. What are you and the FA going to do to put it right. If it had been Manchester United that had been punished in this way I cannot imagine what Sir Alex Ferguson would have said nor how you and the FA would have reacted, but I would be surprised if everybody would have been so dismissive. As I have said before, it is not surprising that so many people do not show the respect the FA and referees expect. You must remind your referees that they need to EARN respect and not just expect it. Nothing that has come out of this event has shown that people deserve our respect. I will feel sorry for Mr Atwell next time he comes across Watford because he will not be at all popular and will probably be ridiculed from the moment his name is seen in the programme.

KH: Otherwise you cannot appeal.

Thank you for taking the trouble to write.

Regards

Keith Hackett

HH: As you can probably tell, I do not think that the response from the authorities is adequate. Your reply to me does not really clear up the situation, for me, as my comments above imply. The FA and your organisation have a great opportunity to show the public that you can move with the times and if you need to retrospectively take action you can, and teams that have been damaged can be recompensed without having to consider going to independent bodies or courts.

It is now over four and a half hours since my reply and the internet lines are very quiet. Might I have gone too far? His reply to my first e-mail took 40 minutes, which was impressive!

Well he replied and here's what was said:

1. A press release was issued offering our apology to the public at large.

2. This was underpinned by a statement on our own Website ...Refworld.com

3. A letter will be written to the club

4. Mr Attwell was scheduled to do a Premier League middle this week-end he will now be holding up the board.

5. Mr Bannister will not be officiating this week for the PGMOL

6. Because of possible litigation that may arise they have been advised not to make any statement.

7. I thought the Titanic disaster was showing that human error does occur and can in other walks of life have much serious consequences. I thought it entirely appropriate. Humans do make errors.

8. No I agree that an error is an error....just like the centre forward who misses an open net....that’s sport

9. Disagree that the fourth official could have been involved in the process. The laws prevent him from doing that.

10. Goal line technology is THE ANSWER. I have substantiated that having had many discussions with match Officials in Rugby League, Rugby Union and Cricket. I have spoken to a Tennis Umpire yet but Paul Hawkins of Hawkeye informs me that they think that their technical aids are terrific and supportive.

11. I am not in a position to deal with the consequences of whether the game should be replayed or what should happen. That is for the Competitions to decide with no input from the PGMOL

12. I think that you are now using managers sound bites so will not comment



Thank you for your response

Regards

Keith Hackett

And here's my reply, which I think is the end of our correspondence:

Dear Mr Hackett,

Thank you again for your reply.

As you can probably tell, this is an incident that has angered me greatly. To be fair to Aidy Boothroyd, he has kept very quiet on the issue and all credit to him for this.

I agree that there are many instances where the game could benefit from goal line technology, but this was so wide of the mark that such technology should not have been necessary.

I accept what you say about the 4th official not being able to get involved - what a pity that law exists - but I don't know why the other assistant could not add what he saw. I do not know if the refs were miked up, but if they were he could have said his piece without drawing attention to himself and saving a potentially embarrassing situation.

I understand that your position at PGMOL restricts your ability to deal with consequences of such incidents, but I am sure your input is always greatly appreciated by the FA whether openly or out of the public domain.

I am sorry if I appear to be giving sound bites - that was not my intention. I can assure I have written my own feelings as I felt that people at the top of the game should know how the humble fan feels cheated in instances like this.

Thank you for your patience and tolerance whilst reading my rant.

Regards,

I wrote to the league and here's what I got back....

Dear Sir

Thank you for your email.

Due to the high volume of communications received and to ensure all supporters receive a swift explanation, a standard response is necessary.

The League can only confirm that the decision to award the goal was final – the Laws of the Game give no discretion in these matters and the referee’s decision on both the scoring of goals and the outcome of a match is final and binding.

The Professional Game Match Officials Board – the body responsible for the management and administration of match officials - regret this error of judgement and will now work with the officials concerned to determine how this occurred in an attempt to minimise such mistakes in the future.

Unfortunately, errors of judgement do occur and the media have already highlighted previous examples of ‘goals that never were’ as well as disallowed goals which were later proven by television footage to be valid.

The reason the Laws of the Game are quite explicit in this respect, however, is to ensure that the game doesn’t ‘degenerate’ into anarchy. If the referee wasn’t the final arbiter, it is likely that many decisions would be disputed and the outcome of matches might even be determined in the courtroom rather than on the pitch.

Every club will, from time to time, be on the receiving end of errors of judgement by match officials – but they are only human. We have to work towards raising standards wherever we can but human error will always be with us. We have to accept that sometimes this will militate against us and other times to our benefit. That is the very essence of sporting competition.

Thank you again for contacting The Football League. "

I notice that the ref in question was replaced at the Ipswich vs Wigan game tonite as "he was taking some leave entitlement (or something like that).

God if Sheff utd can get a possible £30m for the Tevez saga surely handing us two points 'due to the most horrific mistake in the English game' should be peanuts!!

Fair play to Keith Hackett. He wrote again at 22.55 last night and said the following:

"Continuing our discussion I have posted an apology with the local paper which I hope will

Be published this week end.

To answer your query the Match Officials were miked up and the second official may have added his view to the Referee.

GL Technology would have not signalled a goal so play would have continued or indicated ball out of play

Regards

Keith Hackett"

I look forward to reading this.

I may now turn my attention to the Football League. I like a good rant!!