An 18-year-old Manchester United fan became so incensed after a decision went against his team that he called the police during the match to report a crime.
On Wednesday, he apologized and was let off without punishment.
The unidentified fan called Nottinghamshire Police after United midfielder Nani was red-carded for dangerous play during Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Nottinghamshire Police chief inspector Ted Antill says ''there may be people out there in real trouble who need our help and they have to wait because we are tied up with calls like this one, reporting a referee from the television.''
Antill says the teenager could have been prosecuted for wasting police time and making a false report. Earlier on Wednesday, a UEFA spokesman says the governing body has "no issues" with Nani's red card against the defending Spanish champions. United were leading their Champions league last-16 tie 2-1 on aggregate when Nani caught Alvaro Arbeloa with a high foot and was sent off by referee Cuneyt Cakir.
Despite widespread criticism of Cakir's decision in the English press, UEFA is backing its man. The Guardian newspaper quoted a spokesman who said: "We have no problem with him. There are no issues for us regarding the sending off and we will wait for the official reports of the match delegate and the referee's observer, as is procedure.
"If they raise concerns then we will act. He remains on our list of officials."
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho did not want to comment on the decision to send off Nani after the final whistle but admitted that the game changed after United were reduced to 10 men.
He said: "I doubt with 11 against 11 we could win the match."
Real midfielder Xabi Alonso added: "It was a difficult decision to take from the referee, but we have seen many games when being against 10 it gets harder. But we have probably produced our best minutes after the sending off.
"For 15 or 20 minutes we have played really well, really patient, and we have scored the two goals. After that we had to push really hard and it was difficult for us not to concede another goal. Our goalkeeper was fantastic."
The Associated Press was used in this report.
