And (some) people wonder why journalists have such a bad name...
From yesterday's
Guardian
Graham Poll did not slip away quietly in his final game. The referee flourished a red card at Belgium's Marouane Fellaini seven minutes after half-time in their Group A qualifier in Helsinki. Finland were a goal up at the time through Jonatan Johansson and went on to win 2-0. Play was held up for six minutes in the first half when an owl landed on the pitch and refused to budge.
Perfectly OK, you might say.
However... owing to the fact that he has retired from refereeing in the English Premiership and under FA rules, or whatever, Graham Poll was
INELIGIBLE under UEFA rules to adjudicate on an international fixture in the EURO 2008 qualifiers.
He was replaced at short notice last Friday, when UEFA discovered their blunder (UEFA had nominated him in the first place). The match was refereed by
Mike Riley, another Englishman.
But of course, the
Grauniad journalist had a nice little one-paragrapher going for him. Graham Poll is a contentious figure, famous for having flourished THREE yellow cards to the same player in one match. The journalist "saw" he'd given a red card in his swansong, knew what he wanted to write, and really could not be bothered to check the facts, as they would only have watered down his story: nobody would grin and say "Typical, the old bugger just
had to go out with a bang" about Mike Riley. Who actually had a reasonable game, and dealt with Bubi the owl quite sensibly.
But why let facts get in the way of a good giggle, eh?
It's been pointed out to them. Let's see if they change it. Don't hold your breath.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Sto ... 12,00.html