Match official Stuart Attwell has been defended by referee chiefs after awarding Liverpool its controversial opening goal in the 2-2 draw against Sunderland in the Premier League.
Dirk Kuyt's fifth-minute goal on Saturday was allowed to stand after Attwell ruled Michael Turner had taken a free kick - even though it appeared the Sunderland defender had gently tapped the ball back in the direction of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet for him to take the set piece. Fernando Torres pounced on Turner's pass and passed to Kuyt for the goal.
The Professional Game Match Officials body, which provides officials for all games in the Premier League, gave its backing to Attwell after reviewing the goal, which Sunderland manager Steve Bruce called a "joke."
"PGMO ... believe that the correct decisions were made," it said in a statement released late on Saturday.
"According to the laws of the game, having stopped the game for any infringement the referee is required to 'indicate the restart of the match.' In practice, in the majority of cases, referees indicate for the restart by gesturing to players to take the kick. These gestures can be minimal ... there is no requirement by Law to use the whistle to make the indication. The ball is then in play when it is kicked and moves. So, in this case, the ball was in play as soon as it is kicked by a Sunderland player."
Bruce accused Liverpool's players of unsporting behavior for playing on after Turner had kicked the ball back toward Mignolet.
"It sticks a bit when you get decisions like that which, for me, are not in the fairness of the game and what we are known for in this country," Bruce said. "It's unjust and unsportsmanlike and not in the rules of the game. They've capitalized on it.
"I think everybody in the ground including most of the Liverpool team knew that Michael Turner didn't take the free kick. He was sort of passing it back to the goalkeeper to take the free kick from where it should have been taken from."
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson took a different view, praising Torres and Kuyt for their "quick thinking."
