CONTROVERSIAL REFEREE REFERRALS

The recent fight between Serena Williams and the Umpire at the 2018 US Open final has attracted International attention. Let’s glimpse into similar controversial referee decisions of all time.

1 This person got dumped out of the 2009 US Open at Flushing Meadows. Serving at 5- 6 down in the second set, she was in trouble when the female line judge called for a foot fault — a tough decision. She blasted heavily at the Japanese judge and got penalised by the referee. Identify.

2 The referee in that match, Ali Bin Nasser claimed he was waiting for the then assistant referee Bogdan Dochev to give him an indication of whether he had seen anything. Dochev said later, “This man ruined my life. He is a brilliant footballer but a small man. What happened?”

3 Welsh referee Clive Thomas also known as the ‘ Terror of Treorchy’ ruled against Brazil when this player known as the ‘ White Pele’ headed a goal from a corner only to find that Thomas had already blown the fulltime whistle. The goal would have been a winner for the Brazilians, but instead, the match ended 1- 1. Identify the player.

4 It was one of the most controversial decisions of cricketing history. It was an incident and a hot topic in the 1995 Boxing Day Test. It was Darrell Hair, the umpire at the centre who called something illegal seven times. What happened?

5 In November 1984 at Brisbane, this former Australian cricketer and the former coach of the Pakistan cricket team was arguably the luckiest man. Michael Holding’s balls pushed him back in his crease, and he ended up breaking the wickets twice with his feet. The square leg umpire disagreed for a hit wicket and resumed the match. Identify.