20/09/2005
Real may try to get defeat overturned due to ref error
Real Madrid are looking into the
possibility of getting Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Espanyol annulled after
claiming the referee made an error before the goal.
Espanyol took the lead 22 minutes from the end of the Primera Liga game
when Daniel Jarque headed in Ivan de la Pena's free kick.
But Real's players and coaching staff said referee Julian Rodriguez
Santiago blew his whistle for an infringement in the area seconds before
Jarque scored.
"The club believe there was an erroneous interpretation of the rules,"
said Real in a statement on their website on Monday.
"When the referee blew his whistle the actions that occurred afterwards
were automatically deemed to be void."
Real, who are 15th in the 20-team table with three points from three
games, claim video footage confirms the referee blew before the goal and
that the soundtrack rules out the possibility of the whistle having come
from the crowd.
The club's legal team are studying precedents from similar situations to
see whether the result may be overturned and the game replayed.
Earlier this month FIFA declared the result of the Asian World Cup
qualifying playoff first leg between Uzbekistan and Bahrain void and
ordered a replay following a refereeing blunder.
World soccer's governing body ruled that Japanese referee Toshimitsu
Yoshida made a "technical error" in disallowing a converted Uzbekistan
penalty and subsequently awarding Bahrain a free kick instead of
ordering the penalty to be retaken because of encroachment.
Uzbekistan's 1-0 home victory has been wiped out. The two-legged tie
will instead be played on October 8 and 12.
