Yesterday, during the match in which the greatest team in the world (Manchester United) defeated Tottenham Hotspurs, a very questionable call occured. I would put a video of this goal up, but the Footballing Government has removed it from the internet due to how controversial it is. Here instead is a description of what happened: Man U’s Portuguese winger Nani dribbles into the penalty box, gets pulled down by his jersey (an obvious penalty). Nani falls down, puts his hand on the ball and looks at the ref, who has not made a call. Goalkeeper for Tottenham assumes it is a hand ball and picks up the ball to place it for the free kick. Nani looks again at the ref and realizes that the ref has not blown his whistle. Nani then kicks the ball into the back of the net from the goalkeepers feet. Chaos ensues.

To most football fans, this was one of the weirdest moments they have ever witnessed. What happened in my perspective was a communications breakdown. The goal keeper for Tottenham (Heurelho Gomes) is from Brazil, Nani is from Portugal and the ref is from England, already there is a language barrier. Although the ref did miss an obvious penalty call, his non-call on the hand ball in my mind was the right call. As a referee, we are encouraged to make the game flow as much as possible while maintaining the fairness and safety required. Whether the ref blew his whistle or not, Tottenham got the ball, but by blowing his whistle he would have slowed down the game. In reality karma happened because Man U got the goal that should have come from a penalty kick. Now if I was a Tottenham fan I would not be angry at the center ref, I would be furious at the linesman. The linesman raised his flag when he saw the handball, which is his job. The center official however, get to decided whether or not to call it. Players are told to play the whistle because it’s the only thing that really matters. yes, he did raise his flag. However the ref made the right call and the keeper messed up. And anyways, Man U would have won even if they hadnt scored because…they ARE the greatest team in the world.