UEFA Fires Back At Michael Oliver's Critics

English referee, Michael Oliver has come under a lot of criticism and threats following his decision to award Real Madrid a penalty in the closing minutes of the quarter-final clash with Juventus which saw the Old Lady eliminated.

Having lost the first leg 3-0, Juventus were on the brink of a historic comeback and had scored 3 goals in 90 minutes, looking to force the game into extra time but then Michael Oliver penalised Mehdi Benatia for his foul on Lucas Vazquez in the penalty area. Cristiano Ronaldo fired home the resulting penalty which was his tenth against Juventus (more than any other side in the Champions League) to send Real Madrid to their eighth successive Champions League semifinal.

The bust-up did not end there as Gianluigi Buffon was also dismissed for improper conduct which included touching the referee and the Italian veteran continued the attack on the referee after the match saying he has "bin of a heart".

The aftermath of this has seen referee, Michael Oliver and his wife, Lucy who is also a referee come under various abuse and threats and UEFA has come out to strongly condemn these acts. Lucy has been receiving threats via text message in the wake of the incident.

A UEFA spokesperson said: "UEFA strongly condemns the abuse directed at Michael Oliver and his wife.

"We have been in contact with them to offer our support and we trust the relevant authorities to take action against those individuals who have behaved inappropriately both on and off social media."

Michael Oliver returned to action at weekend as a fourth Official at Huddersfield, before taking charge of the 1-1 draw between West Ham and Stoke City on Monday night.

MY OPINION

It is very unhealthy for the game if those who are put in charge receive threats to their lives and personalities for just carrying out their duty.

Many critics lay claim that he should not have awarded the penalty due to the atmosphere, that he should have understood the situation. But my question is, should he because of emotions of some people not take the right decision? It was a foul and he gave it accordingly. The decision is only raising eyebrows due to the occasion.

UEFA and if it gets worse, FIFA should punish severely those found in this ludicrous act of threatening the man and his wife.

I know a lot of pundits would still come forward with the lame claim "this is the reason England would have no referee at the 2018 World Cup in Russia" LIES! ALL LIES!

In fact, Michael Oliver would have been the sole representative of England had the FA not been slow in updating their nomination afraid to Mark Clattenburg who was formerly nominated moved to Qatar.

In recent years, Res ipsa loquitur (Latin for the -
fact speaks for itself).

English refs have historically been amongst the best referees in the world.

In recent times, 2010 for example, Howard Webb was the referee for the Champions League final match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. He then went on to referee the world cup final match between Spain and the Netherlands.

In 2016, Mark Clattenburg was the referee of the Champions League final match between Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid. He also went on to referee the UEFA Euro 2016 final match between France and Portugal.

I strongly commend his courage and firmness even in the face of intimidation and pressure.

Don't call a dog a bad name just to hang it.