FILE PHOTO: Close-up of a subbuteo football ball is seen in Rome, Italy, May 13 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
A referee in Italy’s sixth tier was punished for taking his eye off the ball on Friday when a league match was ordered to be replayed because he failed to notice a penalty fly through a hole in the net.
A goal kick was ordered to be taken after the referee saw the ball emerge on the other side of the net following Vigolo Marchese player Pierluigi Arcari’s spot kick in a Promozione clash with Futuro Fornovo Medesano on Sunday.
Arcari was then sent off for protests and the 10-man side went on to lose 2-1, but video evidence that surfaced later clearly showed the ball had entered the goal and re-emerged through a gap in the net.
The sporting judge ordered a replay of the match after the red-faced referee admitted his error, but Arcari will still have to serve his three-match suspension after threatening the official.