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No regrets for under-fire linesman Lewis
The official at the centre of the controversy surrounding Pedro Mendes' `goal that wasn't' at Old Trafford has no regrets about his role in the drama. Shrewsbury-based assistant referee Rob Lewis claimed he would have needed the speed of Linford Christie to be sure Roy Carroll had dropped the ball over his own line.
Lewis now admits he made the wrong decision when he failed to confirm Carroll had spilled Mendes' long-range lob into his own net in the final minute of last night's Premiership encounter. The mistake cost Tottenham their first league win at Manchester United since 1989 and prevented Carroll's embarrassment from becoming even more acute. Yet 35-year-old Lewis insisted there was no way he could be certain the ball had crossed the line because seconds before the incident, he was halfway up the pitch in line with the United defence. 'I was doing my primary job, which was to stand in line with the last defender and watch for offside,' Lewis told the Shropshire Star. 'I pride myself on being relatively fast over a short distance but by the time the ball landed, I was still 25 yards away from goal and it was impossible from that distance to judge if it had crossed the line. 'I could not have guessed because you have to be 100% sure on such important decisions. 'I am disappointed because I always like to get decisions right. But I have thought about it a lot since the incident and there was nothing I could have done differently - apart from run faster than Linford Christie.' Carroll and Lewis' combined blunder has re-opened the debate about whether video technology should be used to rule on such decisions in the future. The issue is due to be discussed at an International Football Association Board meeting in Cardiff on February 26. And with the Football Association and their Scottish and Irish counterparts all set to vote in favour of trialling a new ball containing a microchip which can determine whether it has crossed the line within seconds, it seems certain some kind of extended experiment will be sanctioned in the near future. It would be a move welcomed by Lewis, especially if it saves him from another nightmare moment. His next appointment comes on Friday at Turf Moor, when he will run the line in the televised FA Cup tie between Burnley and Liverpool. 'My view, and I think it is shared by most referees, is that for matter of fact issues like whether the ball has crossed the line, technology should be introduced,' said Lewis. 'Any decision where the law states 'in the opinion of' should be left as they are.'
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