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ARMENIA AIR GRIEVANCES
Soccerway
Oct 13 2011
Armenia have formally complained to UEFA over refereeing decisions in
their Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland. Armenia
have formally complained to UEFA over refereeing decisions in their
Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland.
Needing to beat Ireland if they were to finish second in Group B and
reach the qualifying play-offs, Armenia instead lost 2-1 in Dublin
on Tuesday.
They lost Roman Berezovsky to a harsh red card in the 26th minute after
the goalkeeper was deemed to have handled the ball outside the box,
when he appeared to have used his chest.
Ireland striker Simon Cox also went unpunished after handling the
ball in the build-up to Berezovsky's sending off.
The Armenian Football Association (FFA) have since confirmed they
will be lodging an official protest with European football's governing
body, UEFA.
The incident has drawn parallels with Ireland's FIFA World Cup play-off
defeat to France in November 2009.
Striker Thierry Henry visibly handled the ball in the build-up to
France's winning goal in the second leg of their play-off at the
Stade de France, a result that saw Ireland miss out on last year's
tournament in South Africa.
A somewhat outlandish conspiracy theory suggests UEFA may have been
attempting to atone for the injustice suffered by Ireland by favouring
the team on Tuesday.
But FFA chief Ruben Airapetyan has dismissed the theory out of hand.
"Trust me, I would never think or believe that it would be possible
for UEFA to give such instructions to the referee," Airapetyan said.
Ireland have been drawn against Estonia in a two-leg play-off to reach
next year's European Championship finals in Poland and the Ukraine.
http://www.soccerway.com/news/2011/October/13/armenia-air-grievances/
From: A. Papazian
Soccerway
Oct 13 2011
Armenia have formally complained to UEFA over refereeing decisions in
their Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland. Armenia
have formally complained to UEFA over refereeing decisions in their
Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to the Republic of Ireland.
Needing to beat Ireland if they were to finish second in Group B and
reach the qualifying play-offs, Armenia instead lost 2-1 in Dublin
on Tuesday.
They lost Roman Berezovsky to a harsh red card in the 26th minute after
the goalkeeper was deemed to have handled the ball outside the box,
when he appeared to have used his chest.
Ireland striker Simon Cox also went unpunished after handling the
ball in the build-up to Berezovsky's sending off.
The Armenian Football Association (FFA) have since confirmed they
will be lodging an official protest with European football's governing
body, UEFA.
The incident has drawn parallels with Ireland's FIFA World Cup play-off
defeat to France in November 2009.
Striker Thierry Henry visibly handled the ball in the build-up to
France's winning goal in the second leg of their play-off at the
Stade de France, a result that saw Ireland miss out on last year's
tournament in South Africa.
A somewhat outlandish conspiracy theory suggests UEFA may have been
attempting to atone for the injustice suffered by Ireland by favouring
the team on Tuesday.
But FFA chief Ruben Airapetyan has dismissed the theory out of hand.
"Trust me, I would never think or believe that it would be possible
for UEFA to give such instructions to the referee," Airapetyan said.
Ireland have been drawn against Estonia in a two-leg play-off to reach
next year's European Championship finals in Poland and the Ukraine.
http://www.soccerway.com/news/2011/October/13/armenia-air-grievances/
From: A. Papazian