It hasn’t been a good few days for the reputation of Australian referees.
Earlier this week Irish striker Roy O’Donovan, playing for Central Coast Mariners in the A-League, only received a yellow card for this blatant headbutt.
And although this call isn’t as bad as that, it’s a pretty awful decision.
A-League referee Ben Williams failed to award a blatantly obvious penalty during the game between Syndey Wanderers and Adelaide.
Adelaide’s Michael Marrone turned away from the excellently named Nikolai Topor-Stanley. The Wanderers’ defender stuck out a stray leg, catching his opponent, while his teammate ran across him and appeared to make contact.
A stonewall penalty by anyone’s standards. Except this A-League ref.
How is this not a penalty? @wswanderersfc‘s Nikolai Topor-Stanley gets away with a shocker of a challenge. #ALeague https://t.co/6O5lBsGB4b
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) January 1, 2016
