posted Jan 30, 2008

RedandblackT

The problem with the rule you state is that the balloons are not referred to as an 'outside agent' in the rulebook. I wasn't sure so I looked it up in the fifa handbook (the list is exhaustive) -

"Anyone not indicated on the team list as a player, substitute or team official is deemed to be an outside agent as is a player who has been sent off"

So an 'outside agent' must be a person.

I don't think it is written in the rules what the referee should do if there are balloons on the pitch. In the past we've seen cases of toilet tissue on the pitch also.

As for all instances that aren't written in the official rules, it is down to the referee's discretion and he was in his rights to request the goalkeeper to remove the balloons.

However, it is unreasonable to request the goalkeeper to do it while the ball is in play - chance of getting lobbed etc.

If I were in charge, I would have stopped the game to give either the goalkeeper or the staff/stewards (if available) the chance to remove the balloons.

One question I would like to ask (i have not seen the game - only the goal), was there a time when the ball was out of play for sufficient time that the goalkeeper could have cleared the balloons? Like an injury or substitution perhaps. In which case Manchester City can have no arguements.

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posted Jan 30, 2008

I agree that any non human outside agent is difficult to call, Whilst balloons should not really be on the pitch, you could also claim that a sudden gust of wind, divot, even a pool of water is an outside agent. I cant see a referee stopping the game for these reasons so why stop for a balloon

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posted Jan 30, 2008

Just thought of something. Its a long shot but could possibly be deemed as relevant.

The laws state that there should be no advertising on the field of play or in the goal or on the goal nets. It is only allowed a certain distance away from the field of play (not sure exactly what this is but refers to where the advertising hoardings are). An exception being either the competition or club emblem on the corner flags.

If the ballons had the Manchester City emblem on them, the referee should have taken steps to remove them before the play began. This would differ the balloons from the toilet tissue scenario I mentioned earlier and the scenarios mentioned by plimuff.

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posted Jan 30, 2008

you can't do owt about it, cos it was your fault in the first place. Cos they werent our balloons were they?

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posted Jan 30, 2008

Anyone not indicated on the team list as a player, substitute or team official is deemed to be an outside agent as is a player who has been sent off"

So an 'outside agent' must be a person
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Not really.i recently read an article written by a referee on this same subject and he says if a game winning goal in the 90 mins hits a dog that runs across the pitch on the way to hitting the back of the net it has to be disallowed and a drop ball used to restart the game.strange but true!

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posted Jan 30, 2008

Am i misinterpreting the rules here but it seems that if a trainer or coach working on a player runs on and scores that cant be disallowed as he is associated with the club but a dog would result in a drop ball. Have i lost the plot? No wonder referees have a hard time making decisions

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posted Jan 30, 2008

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=502840&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos2&cc=3888
this should help probably.

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posted Jan 31, 2008

The guy is (or was) an international referee and will know a lot more than I do.

However, when I was learning the trade, I was told to officiate a match based on the FIFA Laws of the Game by the letter.

And since this incident is not legislated for it goes down to the referee's discretion - whose decision is final.

Did Alan Wiley make a bad mistake?

Well, based on the dog logic; the goal should have been disallowed. However, the dog ran onto the pitch as the ball headed towards the goal.

If the dog was randomly running around the pitch, play would be stopped immediately unless there was an imminent goal threat for either team.

The difference with the balloons, is that they were there for a while. i.e. they didn't fall out of the sky just as the ball was played towards the Sheff Utd striker.

If you are going to deem the balloons as an 'outside agent' then they should have been removed before play (re)started.

However, after Alan Wiley made the decision to leave the balloons on the field of play, it would have been difficult to disallow the goal.

He has already stated that he did not feel the balloons were an 'outside agent' by allowing the game to continue.

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posted Jan 31, 2008

nothing but air and hot at that; just accept the result and move on!

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posted Feb 12, 2008

if u look at the balloons there all light blue, from the cty fans...so cty only have themselves to blame

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