Urs Meier

I take your point Andrew and i agree that we played badly on the night. Part of me thinks life would have been simpler if we'd just been beaten 2-1 in normal time so we could have come away thinking, "well, you cant defend for 80 minutes, you're gonna concede eventually". But we did defend for that time, the whole team did, and didn't concede. We fought like the lions on our shirts and even, against all the play and the fatigue, managed to score at the other end! Oh the joy, every time we crossed in we looked sharp and their defence looked wide open, Lampard's goal showed that, and we were more knackered then they were, playing in their climate, in their country and with a day less rest. But we did it, we kept them out which is as good as scoring in my book AND we scored. It should have been enough to keep the Sven and Beckham haters at bay, enough to let them push on but it wasn't and, through no fault of our own, we were left to face the pack like second rate losers that were just played off the park. I know that EUFA aren't going to suddenly slam the brakes on and go back to make ammends for the ref's mistake. Our competition is over and we're being judged on how far we didn't get again. That's why I'm shouting still that we WERE robbed because I believe we were and would have gone on to win the cup (yes really) even without Rooney and after that performance which would have been a smack in the face to do better. That decision has turned the headlines from potentially "The BEST Team since '66" to "Hasbeens must go!" and it has NOTHING to do with how we played.

From AOL news: The referee blamed for England's exit from Euro 2004 has gone into hiding after receiving death threats from angry fans. Swiss ref Urs Meier, who controversially disallowed Sol Campbell's winning goal at the end of the England-Portugal quarter-final, has been given police protection and gone into hiding in his homeland. But a defiant Mr Meier, speaking on the phone from a secret location, claimed the "whole world" knew his decision was "100 per cent correct". Swiss police are now guarding the 45-year-old ref, who claims to have received more than 16,000 emails from England fans after newspapers published his email address. Speaking to Swiss online service Swissinfo, Mr Meier said he was "shocked" at the reaction of the English. "I had a wonderful tournament with three fantastic games and I'm feeling good about that," he added. "But the English newspapers, especially The Sun, have caused a big problem. It is really a big shock for me here in Switzerland. "The police are here with me now as we speak and I'm taking these threats very seriously. I'm not going to leave Switzerland but am somewhere where nobody knows me." But Mr Meier said he stood by his decision to disallow Campbell's goal, adding: "The decision was 100 per cent correct and the whole world could see that." Meanwhile, MPs have tabled a motion in the House of Commons criticising the quality of refereeing in Euro 2004. It does not specifically mention Mr Meier, but few will be in any doubt that the MPs had him in mind when they demanded the football authorities take action to stop referees ruining more games. The motion was tabled by Scottish Labour MP Bill Tynan (Hamilton South) and has been supported by five other backbenchers. They congratulated England on their "fine performance'' in the championships and praised the Portuguese hosts. But they noted: "Concerns have been raised about the quality of refereeing decisions during a number of matches,'' and called on UEFA and FIFA to "address these concerns so that no further matches are ruined for fans by dubious decisions''.

karl see above post........ya need to watch for karma mate..

Blimey, I hardly suggested anybody kill him, and I hardly think there are any potential killers amongst our little ABCtales community anyway, although I could be wrong. His website was given out on the 10 o'clock news last night, so it's not exactly ex-directory. I'm sure by now that the guy's given up reading his e-mails, but if he hasn't I felt that my little boy's communication would be a lot more effective than any death threats.

Hi, I'm new here, I'm Swiss and I'd like to raise four questions: 1. Have you heard any respected football-expert from outside the UK raise any doubts about Meier's decision? 2. Do you think you will get more unbiased refs by intimidating them in the worst possible way for correct decisions (at least according to uefa and let's face it: for almost everybody outside the UK)? 3. What about the deciding goal in the 1966 World Cup? 4. What's the problem with english newspapers that they write such a heapload of rubbish and thereby encourage obvious maniacs to... well whatever they might be able to do? When reading some of the stuff that a whole crowd of seemingly crazed people has been writing into any weblog or guestbook they can find that is somehow connected to some "urs meier" - a quite common name in Switzerland not unlike like john smith e.g. - I simply get sick. Here's an example from the guestbook of www.ursmeier.com that has nothing to do with the ref at all: YOU FUCKING TWAT, IM GOIN TO FUCKING EAT YOUR CHILDREN!!! I LOST £100,000 ON THAT GAME BECAUSE OF YOU SHIT SHIT SHIT FUCKING EXCUSE FOR REF-ING, YOU RACIST MOTHERFUCKER, COME TO THIS COUNTRY, I DARE YOU YOU FUCKING PEADOPHILE YOUR GOING TO BURN IN THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL, WHERE HITLER WILL FOREVER ME MUNCHING ON YOUR SCROT SACK!! I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, AND YOU WILL FEEL MY WRATH BEFORE THE END! URS, YOU BETTER MOVE, YOU BETTER CHANGE YOUR NAME.. I WONT HOLD BACK, ILL BLOWTORCH YOUR MOTHERFUCKING ASS BACK TO YOUR FUCKING SAUSAGE LOVING COUNTRY! I HATE YOU AND WILL PRAY FOR YOUR PAINFUL DEATH EVERY NIGHT FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY. YOURS SINCERY, your worst nightmare P.S DIE Now, I don't take this serious, but then: You never know.

If it wasn't for your Swiss tag I could've sworn you lived in Glasgow. By the way, it has been said that behind closed doors UEFA told Meier he made a mistake. Personally I think he was a bad ref anyway, mainly because he was giving out yellow cards for what appeared to be minor offences, than he let some serious ones go un-carded. UEFA dropped him from the Final suggesting they weren't very happy with his standard of work. Whatever the reality of his reffing abilities it is obviously inexcusable to threaten any football official with violence and I don't believe it has anything to do with him being Swiss. Actually I believe the time has come when the game requires professional refs, properly paid and trained. Thereis too much at stake these days to leave the officiating in the hands of shopkeepers and office workers.