BASEL, June 10 (Reuters) - Netherlands' controversial first goal in Monday's 3-0 Group C victory over world champions Italy at Euro 2008 was correctly awarded despite many observers believing it was offside, organisers UEFA said on Tuesday.
UEFA general secretary David Taylor told a news conference
the officials correctly interpreted Law 11 which relates to
offside when Ruud van Nistelrooy scored after 26 minutes.
He stated that Christian Panucci played him onside although
the Italian defender was off the pitch at the time.
'The goal was correctly awarded. Not many people, even in
the game, and I include the players, know this interpretation
(of Law 11),' Taylor said.
He conceded, however: 'The Law itself does not deal with
this situation directly at all,' but said that referees
universally interpreted it in the way that the officials did on
Monday night.
He said he had every sympathy with the wider footballing
public for believing the officials called it wrong but said that
Swedish referee Peter Frojdfeldt and his assistant Stefan
Wittberg were absolutely correct in their interpretation.
Taylor told reporters: 'Even though the Italian defender
(Christian Panucci) was off the field because of his momentum,
he is still deemed to be part of the game and is therefore taken
into considersation as one of the last two defending players.
'As a result Ruud Van Nistelrooy was not nearer the
opponents' goalline than the second last defender and therefore
could not be in an offside position.'
'This is a widely known interpretation of the offside law
among referees but is not generally known by the wider
footballing public and indeed many people in football,' he said.
'That is understandable because incidents like this are very
unusual.
'However, there was a similar incident in a Swiss League
match about a month ago between Sion and FC Basel and after a TV
commentator initially suggested the referee had made a mistake,
he later apologised publicly and congratulations to him.'
The goal caused confusion among both the Italian and Dutch
players too, a number of whom looked astonished when the goal
was awarded.
It also provoked some angry reaction among the Italian fans
when it was replayed on the giant screens inside the Stade de
Suisse stadium and led to Luca Toni being booked for dissent for
protesting.
Taylor said his yellow card would stand and that goals would
still be replayed on the screens throughout the tournament.
The International Football Association Board, the guardian
of the game's laws, had the prerogative to examine the law if
they thought the wording needed to be clarified or a loophole
existed, Taylor said.
