UEFA in Blunderland

Arsenal should have seen it coming from the moment a photograph was published of Norwegian linesman Ole Hermann Borgan, one of the UEFA appointed team of officials for the European Champions League final, smiling broadly as he posed in a Barcelona shirt. But being Arsenal, they politely and graciously indicated that they were not unduly concerned.

As things turned out, perhaps they should have been, because even after Borgan was replaced by his compatriot Arild Sundet what remained was still a team of Norwegian officials, led by referee Terje Hauge, who already had form for showing a red card to a player from a British team (in this case Chelsea) who were playing Barcelona.

More to the point, perhaps UEFA should have been concerned that they themselves had selected officials who normally ply their trade in an environment which bears very little resemblance to Premiership or La Liga football to take charge of the most important club game in Europe – a decision which is comparable to asking a third year medical student to carry out a hip replacement operation.

The kindest interpretation of their performance is that their individual and collective naivety contributed hugely to Arsenal’s defeat. It is not simply a matter of Hauge’s dismissal of Jens Lehmann after just 18 minutes. Lehmann certainly fouled Eto’o and by the letter of the law he had to go, but in such a game the referee might have allowed Barcelona’s goal, spared the goalkeeper and saved the spectacle by preserving a contest between two teams of eleven players.

Far more serious was the extent to which the referee’s inability to distinguish between reality and appearance benefited the Spanish side. Despite the fact that he won the ball, Thierry Henry was booked for a slide tackle because the Barcelona player fell down. But when Henry was tackled illegally from behind, his reluctance to ‘go to ground’ invariably ensured that no decision was given. As a result, players like Marquez and the insidious Van Bommel, who has long been an exponent of what decades ago was known as ‘ankle tapping’, prospered beyond their wildest dreams to the exasperation of Arsenal, who could be forgiven for thinking that playing 72 minutes with 10 men against one of the best club sides in world football was punishment enough without the additional burden of a referee who appeared benevolently disposed towards their opponents.

Not to be outdone, the Norwegian linesman contrived not to see that Eto’o was fractionally offside when he received Larrson’s pass to slip the equaliser past Almunia at the near post – ensuring that, ironically, the first ‘goal’ Arsenal had conceded in 995 minutes of Champions League football was not really a goal at all. A more experienced official would have flagged and with just 15 minutes remaining and the Spanish side growing increasingly frustrated it is possible that Arsenal might have held on for a famous victory.

In the end, it is not the officials who should be blamed for deficiencies in their performance, but the man, or men, who selected them. They should not have been there in the first place to influence such an important game, the outcome of which might well have been very different if its control had been entrusted to more experienced hands.