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WEBB: IT WAS THE CORRECT DECISION

Select Group official explains penalty award

Howard Webb is confident that the decision he made to award Austria an injury time penalty was the correct one. The co-hosts converted the spot kick to earn a draw and that ended Polish hopes of progressing in the competition – as a consequence the decision caused some debate in the media, particularly in Poland, however the Select Group official admitted afterwards he was more concerned that their opening goal shouldn’t have stood than he was over whether he was right to award the penalty.

Reflecting on the match Webb commented: “We felt the match was a good one and were really happy with our performances. Obviously, Mike [Mullarkey] was disappointed that the Polish goal was, on the replay, shown to be offside and this clearly took the shine off the occasion for him but he is a professional and having analysed the goal, he can see that his positioning was at fault rather than his judgement.

“We were happy with our control of the game and the players were very co-operative throughout with hardly any dissent being shown, which has been true of nearly all of the matches here. Obviously, the big decision came at the end of the match with the penalty which was very clear to me - it also came on the back of a warning for holding. It really was something that couldn't be ignored and is something which all the teams were told not to engage in pre-tournament. I know that the decision created massive disappointment in the Polish camp. I hope that, on reflection, they will also appreciate that the decision had to be given due to the clear nature of the offence.

“After the match, we returned to our hotel where we had a small de-briefing with the match observer and early the next day, we flew back to our base in Switzerland where we had a full de-brief using video clips of the game. Also present were the television observers and their view was that we had done well and they were certainly supportive of the penalty decision. They raised the issue of the offside goal which was to be expected and all cautions were agreed upon, there were some more positive points highlighted and a couple of development points regarding positioning etc but all in all, we felt that we made a solid debut.

“Following the de-brief, we had a recovery session followed by a trip to Zurich to see the Italy v Romania match. Today is a day-off and we are just about to set off for Zurich on the train to go to the fan zone to watch Spain v Sweden. It should be a great atmosphere and good match to watch.

“We really did enjoy making our debut in the tournament after having to wait a week and being the last refereeing team out. The feeling when we walked out into the full Ernst Happel Stadium was fantastic, and will live with us for a long time. During the line-up, it was a really special moment to see our families in the main stand whilst the National Anthems were being sung.

“We will find out about our next appointment on Sunday. I would also like to say a massive thank you to everybody who has been in touch with us before and after our first match in Vienna on Thursday night. The support has been overwhelming.

“Every single message of good luck or well done has been appreciated. We know how much everybody is behind us and it makes us feel very priviledged to have that support from friends, family and colleagues. We are very lucky and enjoying this experience.”

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