Uzbekistan only managed a 1-1 draw in the replay and a 0-0 scoreline in the second leg in Manama meant that Bahrain qualified. Current FIFA head of refereeing, Massimo Busacca, was in charge for the first-leg rematch and I was appointed to the second leg in Bahrain.

It was surprising to receive four or five calls on the day of that game from FIFA stressing how important it was that the game passed without any errors in law which would provoke another appeal.

Winding forward to the latest incident which was caused, incredibly, by an identical error by German referee, Marija Kurtes, in the 96th minute of England’s 2-1 ‘defeat’ by Norway in their qualifying group. 

England thought they had scored an equaliser in the dying seconds of the game from the penalty spot but Kurtes had spotted encroachment by at least one England player and rightly disallowed the goal. Had the penalty been missed she would have been correct to award an indirect free kick but as it had been scored she should have ordered a retake.

England players celebrate after they thought they had equalised against Norway

But referee Kurtes awards an indirect free-kick and the celebrations are cut short

Williamson has the ball back in her hands ready for what she thought would be a retake

But Williamson then realises the referee’s decision and two Norwegian players are seen celebrating

German referee Marija Kurtes incorrectly awarded an indirect free kick after disallowing a penalty

Kurtes has been sent home from the European Women’s U19 qualifiers after her mistake

Now, UEFA has upheld England’s appeal and ordered that in an evolution of the FIFA decision in 2005, the game should be replayed from the moment the technical error occurred. 

This bizarre decision was perhaps influenced by the fact that both teams are still present in the host city, Belfast, and are available following their final qualifying matches. However, this sets a dangerous precedent. 

If the same error is made in the opening minutes of a late group match in next year’s European Championship finals in France, will that match be replayed and the schedule of the whole tournament be thrown into disarray?

I almost caused just that at Germany 2006; my error, in not sending Josip Simunic off when showing him his second yellow card, could not be disputed and given FIFA’s decision in the qualifying stages of the same competition they would have struggled not to allow a rematch.

The game was 2-2 at the time of the mistake and it stayed that way until the final whistle but had Croatia scored they would have ‘qualified’. I remember being told by the Australians that had Croatia scored a winning goal in the final three or four minutes they would have appealed and expected a rematch at the very least.

Precedent set; now let’s wait for the next refereeing error. It will happen – and UEFA must just hope it doesn’t affect one of their premiere tournaments.

Referee Graham Poll shows a yellow card to Croatia’s Josip Simunic during a 2006 World Cup match

Poll sends Simunic off but only after he had failed to show a red card after a second booking

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