Man Utd to submit report to UEFA.........

[kingman]

French police say forged tickets to blame as Lille face expulsion
Source: - Times Online

Manchester United were last night preparing to submit an official report to Uefa containing a dossier of complaints about ground safety, stewarding and the behaviour of riot police at the Félix-Bollaert Stadium in Lens.

With European football’s governing body launching its own urgent investigation, Lille face possible expulsion from the Champions League and a record fine after a night of mayhem marred United’s controversial victory in northern France on Tuesday night.

United are particularly concerned about the heavy-handed treatment of fans in an overcrowded section of the ground and were compiling accounts from supporters who claimed to have been subjected to teargas and beaten with batons as they tried to escape a crush that evoked memories of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

The club had received 75 e-mails last night from fans complaining about their treatment and the fallout reached government level, with Richard Caborn, the Sports Minister, demanding that Uefa addresses the problem of teams without the required standard of stadium. Lille are playing their Champions League matches at the Félix-Bollaert because their own ground does not meet Uefa requirements.

French police blamed the crush on a black market of forged tickets organised in Britain and defended their intervention, which they said was sparked by infighting among United supporters.

According to French officers, between 1,000 and 1,500 forged tickets were sold to United supporters “by English people” and, as a result, between 4,500 and 5,000 fans were crammed into a section with a maximum capacity of 3,500.

It was one of several incidents that blighted United’s 1-0 victory, secured courtesy of Ryan Giggs’s controversial late goal. Lille are expected to submit a formal complaint about Giggs’s quickly taken free kick, which they believe should not have been allowed to stand, although that may get short shrift from Uefa. It is more concerned at what appeared to be the French team’s attempt to have the match abandoned and the ensuing mêlée during which Gary Neville, the United captain, was struck on the head by a flagpole thrown from the crowd.

Jean-Noël Dusé, the Lille goalkeeping coach, tried to take his players off the pitch in protest at the goal. His actions have been included in the report by Eric Braamhaar, the Dutch referee, which will be carefully scrutinised by Uefa tomorrow.

The sanctions could be severe, with the possibility that Lille will be thrown out of the competition and United handed a bye into the last eight, although the most hefty punishments are likely to come after March 22, when Uefa’s control and disciplinary committee meets to discuss “possible violations of binding safety and security instructions” by Lille and “the alleged improper conduct of both sets of supporters”.

Tottenham Hotspur were handed a bye into the last 16 of the Uefa Cup this month when Feyenoord were thrown out of the competition and fined after their fans rioted in the match away to AS Nancy on November 30. “We cannot say now what action the disciplinary committee will take, but if they find against Lille, it could well be severe,” Rob Faulkner, a Uefa spokesman, said.

Phil Townsend, the United director of communications, said: “It’s critical that we establish the sequence of events and a factual representation of what happened. Fan evidence is going to be absolutely essential to any report we send so we would urge fans to e-mail us either with text or pictures.”

Kingman

[triniairman]

That's good news for me, a bye into the last eight, Man.u still have a replay against Reading in the FA cup so they will need the rest.

[Small Magician aka Wazza]

That's good news for me, a bye into the last eight, Man.u still have a replay against Reading in the FA cup so they will need the rest.

yes they should be granted the tie...    When Lille walked off it caused a hostile atmosphere resulting in missiles being thrown at players and staff and police brutality on the utd section..  an i am not just saying this   there is video evidence of police spraying tear gas for absolutely no reason..  the police obviously paniced   but UEFA will decide   even if we play the next leg i am 100% sure the damage is done already

Glory Glory

[ballpiyong]

The amount of lucky calls Utd getting this season its a a shame!!!!

[dcs]

Any chance they will disallow the goal.
Highly unlikely but u cud always hope.

I wonder how much they pay the ref for dat tiefery.

[Daft Trini]

The amount of lucky calls Utd getting this season its a a shame!!!!

You talking shite man! 

[Cantona007]

Any chance they will disallow the goal.
Highly unlikely but u cud always hope.

I wonder how much they pay the ref for dat tiefery.

DCS, the rules are clear. the players have the right to ask, and the ref the right to grant a request for a quick free kick. As Small Mag said, when someone like Henry does it, it's OK (he's such a clever player), but when ManU does it, it is "tiefery".
BTW, there is no chance of the goal being rescinded (see above). Perhaps we can talk about the human tragedy that almost unfolded and the shameful behaviour of the Lille authorities throughout instead of baseless conspiracy theories

[Israel]

I aint no expert on the rules of takin free kicks but I thought that you are allowed to take a quick free kick without askin the ref. If however, an opposing player stands on the ball you are allowed to ask the referee for 10 yards. After the referee marks the point where the wall can go no closer (to the ball), the referee then signals (by whistle) for the free kick.

[Cantona007]

I aint no expert on the rules of takin free kicks but I thought that you are allowed to take a quick free kick without askin the ref. If however, an opposing player stands on the ball you are allowed to ask the referee for 10 yards. After the referee marks the point where the wall can go no closer (to the ball), the referee then signals (by whistle) for the free kick.

Thank you 

[Daft Trini]

I aint no expert on the rules of takin free kicks but I thought that you are allowed to take a quick free kick without askin the ref. If however, an opposing player stands on the ball you are allowed to ask the referee for 10 yards. After the referee marks the point where the wall can go no closer (to the ball), the referee then signals (by whistle) for the free kick.

Thank you 

Teach dem bredda! 

[whistler91]

well take a look at this and you all decide

the full post match review including interviews etc.

http://www.dailymotion.com/bobrivers/video/2121160

i hope allyuh see the clear dive from the other angle

[elan]

That is not a goal. The ref marked the spot and is walking away to blow the whistle when the kick was taken. That goal should have been disallowed. The ref d id not even see when the kick was taken, therefore he does not know if the ball was rolling or was taken onthe spot which he pointed out.

That ref should be fined and disciplined.

[Cantona007]

That is not a goal. The ref marked the spot and is walking away to blow the whistle when the kick was taken. That goal should have been disallowed. The ref d id not even see when the kick was taken, therefore he does not know if the ball was rolling or was taken onthe spot which he pointed out.

That ref should be fined and disciplined.

Again, please refer to the rules and what actually happened. The ref was in conversation with Giggs and gave his assent. Talk done.

[Mr Fix-it]

That is not a goal. The ref marked the spot and is walking away to blow the whistle when the kick was taken. That goal should have been disallowed. The ref d id not even see when the kick was taken, therefore he does not know if the ball was rolling or was taken onthe spot which he pointed out.

That ref should be fined and disciplined.

    Madness, de ref. was looking behind him while he was walking away in the first couple sec. of de video.  Not to mention He and gigs was talking even before dey take de kick.  Text book sneak freekick, ah doh know what alyu talking bout

[triniairman]

That is not a goal. The ref marked the spot and is walking away to blow the whistle when the kick was taken. That goal should have been disallowed. The ref d id not even see when the kick was taken, therefore he does not know if the ball was rolling or was taken onthe spot which he pointed out.

That ref should be fined and disciplined.

Elan normally i does like what ur sayin but on this occasion i have to disagree it was a good goal

[whistler91]

ofcourse the goal is unfair, without question. even the goal that was disallowed by lille was unfair, firstly vidic placed his arm infront of the striker. take a look at how he throws his arms forward.

Funny that they disallowed this goal, however when crouch scored his controversial goal when he almost take off sancho neck they allowed that.

They almost naturally bias towards the english.
 

[Mr Fix-it]

ofcourse the goal is unfair, without question. even the goal that was disallowed by lille was unfair, firstly vidic placed his arm infront of the striker. take a look at how he throws his arms forward.

Funny that they disallowed this goal, however when crouch scored his controversial goal when he almost take off sancho neck they allowed that.

They almost naturally bias towards the english.
 

Unfair yes maybe but it was a legitimate goal none the less.  Lille should have had ah man on de ball when de wall was being placed.  Dat is a normal thing with teams now-ah-days to place ah man over de ball to prevent dat exact thing from happening.  Dey fall to sleep on a professional team dat have nuff history and experience and dey paid for it.
And as for de disallowed goal, de man try to get away wid ah fast one, Vidic is jus ah boss in de back dey fur de moment and dey didn't have a way in hell he would have gotten a free header if he didn't push Vidic to de ground.  Every man jack who watch de game knew it was a foul.  Big up Elan, ah feel yu pain 

[elan]

Is it not a yellow for standing on the ball, or is just FIFA? The ref should not contribute to either team, but in this case he was part of MANU play. He is walking away as though he is going into a position to see the free kick and blow the whistle. I am looking at his body language and it is telling me that the kick is on the whistle.

I really believe if it was the other way around the debate would be different.

I am not against or for either team. I just like to see fair play. And no way was that fair. The ref was decietful in how he walked away. He gave a distinct impression that he was going to blow the whistle.

See I have a conspiracy theory here. I don't know the whole standing and where a tie would have put MANU, but they already have another game on their card with a "small" club and to tie with another small team within a week does not bode well for the moral in the club.

Anyways, they stole that play from my play book that's how my team does free kicks. But to avoid the confrontation we do not get the ref involved. 

[elan]

UEFA throw out protest and charge Lille

UEFA disciplinary chiefs have thrown out a complaint by Lille about the validity of Manchester United's winning goal and have charged the French club's players with improper conduct.

 
Lille players threatened to walk off the pitch after Ryan Giggs scored from a quickly-taken free-kick in their Champions League match in Lens on Tuesday.


The French club had claimed the referee should have blown his whistle beforehand, and asked for the game to be replayed.

UEFA said in a statement: 'Having examined the official referee's report, the television evidence at hand as well as the laws of the game, the UEFA control and disciplinary body decided to reject the protest, as there was no proof of a technical error.

'As a result, the body declared that the goal was perfectly valid.

'Furthermore, the control and disciplinary body decided to instigate proceedings against Lille for the improper behaviour of their players immediately after the goal. '

Lille have the right of appeal and the charge is likely to be dealt with by the same disciplinary hearing that will handle possible breaches of security and safety regulations by the club and allegations of improper conduct by both Lille and United supporters.

United believe a tragedy was only narrowly averted after supporters became crushed into a section of the Stade Felix-Bollaert in Lens.

Lille have pointed the finger at United, claiming their early distribution of tickets allowed high-quality fakes to be produced, while Damien Vanoise, the head of security at the stadium, has accused United fans of sparking the problems by 'violent behaviour'.

United will answer the allegations in a report to UEFA but are furious Lille are trying to blame them for their own shortcomings.

It is understood United will tell the UEFA the poor quality of the tickets provided by the French club allowed forgeries to be made easily, and will provide a dossier of evidence from fans about the incidents in the stadium.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=410502&cc=5901