Beach Ball 1, Liverpool 0

[DukeJack]

So some kid at the Sunderland-Liverpool game yesterday, a Reds fan no less, threw a beach ball into play in the beginning of the game, it rolled around for a while around the Liverpool goal, and came to rest on the edge of the six yard box. Darren Bent, a Sunderland forward, shot the ball, hit the beach ball, and the ref allows what should have been a disallowed goal. Note Pepe Reina's ridiculous reaction:

[youtube][/youtube]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 879858.ece

[Rob Iola]

Isn't there a Law of the Game that addresses foreign objects on the pitch or something?

[DukeJack]

Yeah, pg 21 of the Laws of the Game:

The Referee: stops, suspends or abandons the match because of outside interference of any kind

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affeder ... gameen.pdf

I've also seen people who think the defender got his toe on the soccer ball, trying to get rid of the beach ball, but the ref should have stopped play.

[appmaj]

I love how ESPN is taking this as an open invitation to bash the EPL and the game

[EPJr]

the Liverpool goalie should have goten rid of it before it became an issue
They made up for it this week by shutting out BoyU