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UEFA’s suggestion to referees

REGENSDORF (Switzerland): Referees have been encouraged to stop matches during the European football Championship if a player is injured on the field and needs medical attention.

Traditionally, if a player is hurt, the team with possession kicks the ball out of play. When play resumes, the other team returns the ball to the side that originally had possession.

“If it’s a serious injury, the referee has a responsibility, according to the Laws of the Game, to stop the game, and the restart is a drop ball,” Yvan Cornu, UEFA’s Head of Refereeing, said on Thursday.

“But, of course, if a player decides to kick the ball out of the field of play, the referee can do nothing.”

During the Champions League final last month, Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez kicked the ball out when a player was down and did so in a manner that put Chelsea in a defensive position.

When play resumed, there was pushing and shoving that led to Chelsea striker Didier Drogba’s red card.

“It started with (what was) considered as a fair-play gesture,” Cornu said. “And it finished with a mass confrontation with pushing and maybe punching.”

Cornu said UEFA wants the “referee to take charge, and we may avoid this situation where it finishes in a mass confrontation, disciplinary sanction.” — AP

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