Manchester United lost a heartbreaker to Real Madrid on Tuesday, and a controversial red card could be to blame. Man. U took a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute when Sergio Ramos scored an own goal, but the lead did not last very long. In the 56th minute, referee Cuneyt Cakir gave Manchester’s Luis Nani a red card. Real Madrid went on to score two goals unanswered goals after Nani was disqualified and won the match.
Nani stuck out his leg to try to control a ball that was flying about chest-high, when Real Madrid’s Alvaro Arbeloa also came in to try and make a play. Nani wound up kicking Arbeloa in the midsection, but it appeared that both men were playing the ball. Despite the fact that the contact was clearly inadvertent, the referee gave Nani a red card and forced Man. U to have to play the remainder of the match one man down.
Manchester United fans were outraged by the call, but none more so than the 18-year-old who called the police during the match to report it. The Nottinghamshire Police were not pleased by the young man’s decision.
“While this recent example may be amusing, it illustrates the sort of insincere calls we have to deal with on a daily basis in the Control Room,” Control Room Chief Inspector Ted Antill explained. “They waste our time and they direct us away from genuine victims of crime, particularly if we dispatch officers out to something that turns out to be a bogus report.
“I would ask people to think before picking up the phone for emergency services. I would also advise parents to ensure your children are aware that prank calls and the reporting of made-up crimes is a crime in itself. There may be people out there in real trouble who need our help and they have to wait because we are tied up with calls like this one, reporting a referee from the television.”
It sounds like this kid was about as crazy as this Manchester United fan, if not more insane. We know soccer fans are some of the most passionate in the world, but calling an emergency line over a bad call is down-right dangerous.
H/T Game On!
