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Revision as of 15:52, 27 May 2006 by Ars3nal (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In English football, the job of the Dubious Goals Panel is to determine the official scorers of goals in the Barclays Premiership. This usually involves goals scored from deflected shots, and requires the panel to judge whether or not to credit the player who takes the original shot or debit an own goal to a defending player who contributes a significant deflection.
Their most high-profile ruling of the 2005-06 season was the first goal of Liverpool's 3-0 win over Wigan Athletic on 3rd December 2005. There was popular demand to credit much-maligned Liverpool striker Peter Crouch with the goal, although the shot took a heavy deflection, looped in the air and was then dropped over the line by Wigan goalkeeper Mike Pollitt. They also opted to take two goals away from Leon Osman of Everton, which were scored in January 2006 — though David Moyes, the Everton manager, has stated that in the club's records Osman will be credited with the goals (despite the obvious discrepancy that will leave between club and official records.)
There are no clear-cut rules to guide adjudications and decisions are frequently controversial. One of the panel's stranger decisions marked an own goal against Stephen Clemence in Birmingham City's visit to Highbury on 2nd October 2005 — even though it resulted from a minor deflection to a shot, from Arsenal's Robin van Persie, which was already goalbound. (A decision which became all the more curious in light of the Crouch decision described above.)
Such inconsistencies have encouraged suggestions that the panel is heavily influenced by not-altogether-impartial tabloid journalists and other media pundits.
The panel does not settle disputes between two players on the same team who both claim to have scored a particular goal.
Selected decisions
2005/2006
- Peter Crouch scored first goal for Liverpool against Wigan Athletic on 3rd December 2005, as opposed to Mike Pollitt (o.g).
- Zurab Khizanishvili (o.g) replaces Joe Cole in Chelsea's 4-2 win over Blackburn Rovers on 29th October 2005.
- Carlos Bocanegra (o.g) replaces Park Ji-sung in Manchester United's 4 - 2 win over Fulham on 4th February 2006.