Man U v Athletic

[colindotcom]

Players boot comes off, ref gives IDFK to Athletic, they score commentators and pundits on Telly and ones I respect on twitter all say ref is correct. So I consult magic book, ref should have allowed play on. Yet I still read and hear pundits say the the ref is right, so I'm doubting myself! Even as I type this I'm confused!

 

[Ross]

Must admit, I too am confused over this one. My 1st thought was that he was penalised for dangerous play as I'm not aware of it being an offence for a boot to come off.

Anyone else shed some light on this?

 

[Ian Mitchell]

"If a player loses his footwear accidentally and immediately plays the ball and/or

scores a goal, there is no infringement and the goal is awarded because he lost

his footwear by accident."

Law 4 interpretation from LOAF 2011/12 on fifa.com

 

[Ian Mitchell]

Got to be honest, I thought the ref was right at the time. Then again, I'm old school......

 

[colindotcom]

Initially i thought he was right until i check the book, it must have been for something else then

 

[Curly]

LOTG says that "play need not be stopped" and I didn't see anything that meant the brief touch by Evra was worthy of stopping play or awarding a free kick. So it may have been incorrect as I interpret it but the awful defending by MUFC was the cause of them letting in a very soft goal, not the award of the IDFK.