Uefa set to dismiss Lille's protest
over Giggs' goal
Published: 22 February 2007
Uefa, Manchester United and Lille spent yesterday gathering
evidence ahead of a three-pronged investigation which will
underline that, more than a century after the entente cordiale,
England and France remain two very distinct cultures.
Football's governing body in Europe will examine Lille's staging of
Tuesday's tempestuous Champions League tie, in the wake of the
crowd problems which affected it, on 22 March, while the French
club's threatened walk-out in protest at Ryan Giggs' winning goal,
as well as a formal complaint by Lille about the awarding of that
goal, will be dealt with tomorrow.
The latter complaint is likely to be rapidly dismissed. Under Fifa
guidelines Eric Braamhaar, the Dutch referee, was correct in
allowing Giggs' goal, scored from a free-kick taken while Tony
Sylva, the Lille goalkeeper, was lining up his defensive wall. Such
flexible refereeing may be rare in Le Championnat but given that
Thierry Henry has twice scored such goals in the Premiership, and
once for France, the French game can hardly be unaware of the
practice.
The other issues are more complex. The most urgent is the inquiry
into Lille's reaction to Giggs' goal. The second leg, at Old
Trafford, is just 13 days hence and the disciplinary process must
be completed by then. Uefa was yesterday awaiting the report of its
match delegate, Trygve Borno, of Norway. The Uefa spokesman Rob
Faulkner said: "We cannot say now what action the disciplinary
committee will take, but if they find against Lille, it could well
be severe." Uefa was encouraged to be firm by the Manchester United
manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who branded Lille's behaviour "a
disgrace".
Michel Seydoux, the Lille president, and the coach Claude Puel
insisted the walk-out was not an attempt to get the game abandoned.
Seydoux added: "It was an emotional moment and that is the way -
you put a reserve on the fourth referee. They are the French rules.
Maybe it is not the same in the Champions League."
It is true that French clubs do, on rare occasions, make such a
protest to the fourth official when they feel wronged, and they do
so the next time the ball goes out. However, the protest does not
usually involve so many players, nor is it common for coaching
staff to be summoning the team off the field, as happened on
Tuesday night. The Dutch officials, and United players, had no idea
what was going on, and Uefa can be expected to take a dim
view.
Had Lille's players refused to continue the club could have
expected to be expelled from this season's competition and banned
from next season's at the very least. As it was they may be fined
heavily but allowed to play on under threat of a suspended ban.
Seydoux may also be censured by Uefa for alleging that Braamhaar
was biased.
He said: "If Lille had done the same thing the referee would not
have allowed the goal. Our players could not understand the
decision because it would not have happened at the other
end."
The most difficult aspect of the inquiry will involve the crowd
problems in Lens. Again there is a cultural difference. The prime
cause may have been overcrowding, possibly a consequence of police
allowing United supporters with tickets for the Lille section to
move into the away end. When supporters who were being crushed as a
result tried to escape the police violently over-reacted, wielding
batons and spraying tear gas.
However, the police could point out that United fans had no
business buying tickets allocated to home supporters and should
have dispersed themselves better - from a distance it was clear
there was room at the end of the section. Better stewarding could
have solved the latter problem but the conflict was partly a
consequence of different experiences. Having not suffered a
Hillsborough the French are less aware of the dangers of crushing,
but they are worried about hooliganism. It was in Lens that Daniel
Nivel, a policeman, was kicked to death by German hooligans during
France '98. Many of the Lens police will have been nervous,
frightened even. When they saw the United fans trying to get on to
the pitch it is no surprise the first assumption was a pitch
invasion was intended. The crowd problems, incidentally, have been
virtually ignored in the French media.
The United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who suffered blurred
vision as a result of the tear gas being used at his end of the
field, has shrugged off Lille's complaints and said that the French
club only have themselves to blame.
In particular, Van der Sar has little sympathy for his Lille
counterpart Sylva, who was still lining up his wall when Giggs
stroked home the free-kick. "It is obvious as a keeper you have to
be aware of situations like that," the Dutchman said.
"The rules are the same everywhere. If a player asks the referee if
he can take a quick free-kick, he can take it. We have seen this
kind of thing happen all over Europe and Ryan showed good
imagination by taking advantage of the situation. As a keeper, that
kind of thing will probably happen to you once in your career. It
was a good time for it to happen in our favour."
Van der Sar was unaware of the exact nature of the problem behind
him, though he said: "The problem definitely distracted me. I know
they used tear gas or something because in the last 20 minutes of
the first half I got blurred vision. Thankfully, the physios put
some fluid in my eye at half-time and that stopped the
problem."
Giggs' Goal
With seven minutes remaining and the game goalless Manchester
United were awarded a free-kick. As Tony Sylva, the goalkeeper,
lined up his defensive wall, Ryan Giggs asked the Dutch referee if
he could take a quick kick. Eric Braamhaar agreed. Giggs scored.
Sylva was booked amid protests by Lille. The French club then
kicked the ball into touch from the kick-off and began to walk off.
After several minutes of argument involving match officials, and
players and staff of both clubs, play resumed with a United
throw-in.
The Free-Kick Law
The referee only needs to blow his whistle if the attacking team
ask him to move the wall back. Otherwise, the kick can be taken
quickly, without warning.
