Final linesman sacked
Final linesman sacked
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Age: 29
Position: Midfield
Country: Germany
Caps: 63
Goals: 30
Club: Chelsea
Previous clubs: Chemnitzer, Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich
In his own words: It's all or nothing, but that's what we've been expecting all along. |  |
Tuesday, 16, May 2006 11:15
The linesman due to officiate in the Champions League final has been sacked after being pictured wearing a Barcelona shirt.
The Catalan giants will take on Arsenal in the European showpiece final tomorrow in Paris to crown the continent’s finest team.
The linesman in question, Norwegian Ole Hermann Borgan, was caught out after posing for a paper in his homeland in the shirt.
Arsene Wenger said that he was not angered by the official’s decision to be pictured in the shirt and that he felt that linesmen and referees always did their best under difficult circumstances.
Wenger’s opposite number Frank Rijkaard had a solution in mind – Arsenal should give the official one of their shirts and the matter would be all square.
The body in charge of the referees did not share the managers’ light-hearted conclusions and opted to replace Borgan.
The referee was apologetic but adamant that he would have been fair. He said: "It was both insensitive and stupid of me. I did not think deeply enough about the situation and the consequences when I was asked to dress up in the shirt. But there is no reason to doubt my impartiality -I don't support either of the teams."
The removal of the official comes just days after Italy withdrew all three of their recommendations to officiate in the World Cup after they were embroiled in a corruption scandal.