Three Cards and you’re still not Out

Its a Shame. Poll is actually a great referee in the Premier League. I think other Referees have done a worse job.

I think that while Poll may be a great referee in the Premier League, he has not shown it in the World Cup. I do not think he deserves to referee another match because of what the 3 yellow cards showed, that he was not in control of the game. If he cannot control the game, he should not be able to referee another match

Agreed, Jeremy.

I dunno how Poll could make mistake like this one…
maybe his mind was with someone else ,who knows :)…

Jaffar From Saudi Arabia.

What I find astonishing is that FIFA’s official match report only shows Simunic receiving TWO yellow cards, at 61′ and 93′ (http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/match/44/mr.html). The yellow card he received in the 89th has been WIPED OFF THE BOOKS.

Obviously, that yellow card did exist: a referee showing a card always holds it up high so that there can be no mistake that a player is being booked or sent off. Everyone watching saw it, and this Web site’s LiveBlog recorded it (http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/liveblog-croatia-australia.html). The referee’s decision is supposed to be final, but in this case, it wasn’t. Poll’s decision to show Simunic the yellow card in the 89th was effectively reversed by FIFA.

This, to me, creates a troublesome precedent.

In the future, could a player who was unjustly booked make an appeal to FIFA to have his yellow card expunged from the record, on the grounds that the referee issued the card in error? After all, a precedent now exists for precisely that sort of thing.

Hmmm, makes you wonder…

So long as he doesn’t referee Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, England, Australia, Italy, Ghana, Switzerland, France, Spain or Ukraine, he can stay as long as he likes.

FIFA amended their official match report of the Australia-Croatia game and removed the original reference to Simunic’s 3 yellows. They’ve basically re-written history and that’s more disturbing to me than Poll’s blunder.

please fifa, keep this poll guy away from such important matches…my son’s high school team might need his services though.

I think people are being too harsh on Poll. Everyone has bad days, and in this case, a bad game. If a player has a bad game, do you bench him for the rest of the season? I think Poll should have a chance at redemption.

Rafael, I agree completely but redemption should not come at this World Cup, pressure will be way to high for him if he has to ref a 1/4 final and he might really lose his job for good if he messes up.

So I’d say, let’s forget about that and see you Mr. Poll in the Premier League and for the euro 2008 qualifiers.

Poll has messed up himself,since he is only good in premiership,see you there and no more in the world cup. See you poll

what was the emergency ref doing!

and what are the headsets for!

I think Graham Poll has reached his level of incompetence. While he may be respected in the English Premier League, his clout has not been transferred on the world stage.

He never gave Wayne Rooney a booking despite been sworn at countless of times at the Man Utd/Arsenal match, yet was more than card happy when Serbian players questioned his judgement. Where’s the consistency? Or does he just give superstars the benefit of the doubt?

Blowing for fulltime just as the ball crossed the line deprived Australia of a historic second victory. That stunt has been pulled before, remember that b**tard in black called Clive Thomas in 1978?

Graham Poll, in my opinion, is a showboater who has just diverted attention to himself. Dissatisfied with the real stars getting all the limelight, he wants to be part of the show.

And he has succeeded, and joined the World Cup Referee’s Hall of Shame, together with the likes of Charles Corver (Schumacher’s protector 1982), Sergio Gonella (friend of the Argentine junta 1978), Ali Benaceur (blinded by the Hand of Maradona 1986), Byron Moreno (honorary citizen of South Korea 2002) and Terje Hauge (fan of Barcelona 2006).

Shame, shame, shame!!!

Sorry, Terje Hauge does not qualify for the World Cup Referee’s Hall of Shame not having officiated at this World Cup, but ALL TIME Referee’s Hall of Shame.

this world cup shows that there are higher agendas among referees. the bigger teams get the benifit i notice on occasions when the ref can get away with it, obviously they still punish them when they cant be hidden. it saddens me that the refs are taking away the games from the players. the world cups are for the players and fans. i’m still waiting for the crowd to be filled with supporters in refs colours. it seems to be a world wide trend in all sports that the refs are making themselves more noticeable against whats good for the game.

I really don’t see why everyone is focusing so much on this one mistake. Granted he gave a player 3 yellow cards which should not have gone unmissed.
However, if you saw Valentin Ivanov’s attempt at refereeing last night, this incident pales in significance.
How likely is Graham Poll to make this mistake again?

Yeah! I suppose we can also say that a judge, who has made many just decisions for 26 years, but then incorrectly finds an innocent man guilty of a misdeamour should still be respected because he still loves the law.

Amazing isn’t it. With all that money sloshing around FIFA etc, they still can’t afford to pay for full-time referees.

It’s understandable in the smaller leagues and with the poorer nations that coming up with money can be a problem.
But this is the world’s cup for god’s sake!!
Pay peanuts and you get monkeys.