Replaced official is ‘fan of the club’
THE linesman who has been stood down from Cardiff City’s play-off crunch at Hillsborough is actually a Sheffield Wednesday fan, it has been reported.
Rookie official James Bell has been replaced as an official for Saturday’s big match after WalesOnline highlighted the fact that he comes from the steel city.
Our revelation led to comments from fans of the two clubs on social networking, with some Sheffield Wednesday supporters speculating whether Bell might actually be a Sheffield United follower.
However, the Sheffield Star have reported Bell is actually a fan of Wednesday.
It makes the Football League’s decision to appoint him in the first place even more baffling, particularly given the huge significance of the Bluebirds’ match.
They have confirmed he is prohibited from officiating in any matches involving the two Sheffield clubs.
Within two hours of our story appearing online, embarrassed league officials did a U-turn and replaced Bell with Ravel Cheosiaua, who is affiliated to the Worcestershire FA.
League bosses put the mistake down to a computer software issue.
However, we have been told Bell himself spotted the error and raised it straight away with his refereeing hierarchy.
Cardiff are not saying anything officially about Bell’s original appointment. However, they are of the view it was a highlyinappropriate choice and chairman Mehmet Dalman raised the matter with the Football League.
It comes after Kevin Friend was taken off the Premier League clash between Tottenham and Stoke after his affiliation with Spurs’ title rivals Leicester City was revealed.
Cheosiaua, one of the assistant referees to man in the middle Paul Tierney, was originally down to do the Nottingham Forest versus Wolves Championship fixture. He and Bell swap matches.
Cardiff have to beat Wednesday to have any hope of keeping the top six race going into the final weekend.
Wednesday expect their largest crowd of the season, with more than 32,000 set to attend Hillsborough for the big showdown.