Why Harry had to go
20/06/2010 9:20 AM
Bren O'Brien in Rustenburg
Sportal


Harry Kewell said he was devastated, Pim Verbeek said he was perplexed but Italian referee Roberto Rosetti got it exactly right when he sent off the Socceroos striker early in the World Cup match against Ghana.

Kewell's red card and penalty for handling Jonathan Mensah's goal bound shot will no doubt draw plenty of criticism back home. It is a devastating blow to lose your most dynamic player with your team leading 1-0 and on the verge of resurrecting its World Cup dream.

The immediate reaction, both at the stadium and on social networking sites was that Australia had once again been dudded by a cheating Italian. Rosetti had somehow conspired to send Kewell off as a means of punishing Australia and perhaps helping an African team into the second round.

That is utter rubbish and belies the fact that the referee followed the law regarding handling the ball in the area to the letter. Yes, Kewell was unlucky, but Rosetti had no choice.

Verbeek, Kewell and several other Socceroos said they felt that why it was probably a penalty, it did not deserve a red card. Clearly they have not read the FIFA regulations which state that:

'A player is sent off, however, if he prevents a goal or an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball. This punishment arises not from the act of the player deliberately handling the ball but from the unacceptable and unfair intervention that prevented a goal being scored.'

In considering a handball decision a referee must take into consideration, the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand) and the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball).

Kewell gave himself away when he admitted post-match that he moved his shoulder and chest towards the ball in order to block Mensah's shot. While he didn't deliberately use his arm, his movement put his arm in a position to be hit by the shot which was hit from more than seven yards away. Kewell had a chance to move his arm from the ball's path and had he done so, the ball would have gone into the net.

As such, Rosetti had no option but to send Kewell off and point to the spot.

A couple of Australian players asked how Kewell's offence was any different to that of Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic 24 hours earlier against Germany. The difference was that the ball which Vidic handled was not heading goal-bound, so while the penalty is fair, the red card is not.

There is no doubt that Kewell is extremely unlucky to be in that situation but in the heat of the battle, players make decisions which shape their games. Kewell made a decision, no matter how split second, to lean towards the ball with his arm outstretched and for that reason, he was sent off.

Of course it is devastating to Australian fans and it makes it very hard to be objective on Rosetti's decision, but it not a disgrace as some may have expected.

The only disgrace on the day was the behaviour of some Australian fans at the ground in the second half, who rained some 30 bottles of beer onto the running track around the pitch in protest at the referee's decisions. That is a blight on the game.

http://sportal.com.au/football-news-display/why-harry-had-to-go-93456