NYON, Switzerland, (Reuters) – Players are still voluntarily kicking the ball into touch when an opponent goes down injured despite directives that they should wait for the referee’s whistle, UEFA said yesterday.
There were several instances at Euro 2012 of players looking to the referee to stop the game when an opponent went down injured in line with the old fair play principle and sometimes kicking it out themselves.
Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, speaking after a meeting of some of Europe’s top coaches at UEFA headquarters, said his players sometimes ignored his advice to continue with the game.
“You have a conflict between the new rule, where it is left to the referee, and the old fair play attitude, which is culturally accepted in our game and which is that when a guy is really injured, you have kick the ball out,” he told reporters.
“I believe it’s right that the responsibility goes to the referee because you never know how genuine the injury is when a player is down.
