Webb had ‘hard task’ admits chief Blatter
FIFA president Sepp Blatter yesterday leapt to the defence of under-fire referee Howard Webb for his handling of Sunday’s ill-tempered World Cup final in Johannesburg.
Englishman Webb brandished 14 yellow cards and one red to Holland’s John Heitinga in an incident-packed game, which saw Spain lift the trophy for the first time, courtesy of 1-0 win.
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk and several of his players accused Webb of being softer on the Spanish, while the 38-year-old was booed as he walked up to collect his medal.
But the former policeman yesterday received widespread backing, ranging from former Premier League referees, a Premier League manager, and indeed the most powerful man in the game.
“The final was not exactly what I expected in terms of fair play,” Blatter said. “It’s not up to me judge the performances of the officials, I can only say it was not easy, really not easy and they were really not helped in this task.”
Elsewhere, Graham Poll, who represented England in the 2006 World Cup, added: “I thought he did very well in very testing circumstances.
“He chose to do it his way, which I think made it a better game. Had he chosen to step in and apply the laws strictly, which hasn’t been done the whole World Cup to be fair to Howard, we could have ended up with probably eight Dutch players on the pitch.
“As it’s a World Cup final I’d give his performance a nine [out of 10].”
Fellow retiree Dermot Gallagher added: “He had one of the toughest games he’s ever had but I don’t think his career is in tatters, like some are saying. Any referee would have had a monumental task in that match.”
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce lent his support, adding: “I think he handled the thing very, very well. He was mindful of the fact he didn’t want to spoil the occasion by brandishing red cards. But 14 yellow cards – and you could look at them and think all of them, really, deserved it.”