Uefa set to dismiss Lille's protest over Giggs' goal

Uefa, Manchester United and Lille spent yesterday gathering evidence ahead of a three-pronged investigation which will underline that, more than a century after the entente cordiale, England and France remain two very distinct cultures.

Football's governing body in Europe will examine Lille's staging of Tuesday's tempestuous Champions League tie, in the wake of the crowd problems which affected it, on 22 March, while the French club's threatened walk-out in protest at Ryan Giggs' winning goal, as well as a formal complaint by Lille about the awarding of that goal, will be dealt with tomorrow.

The latter complaint is likely to be rapidly dismissed. Under Fifa guidelines Eric Braamhaar, the Dutch referee, was correct in allowing Giggs' goal, scored from a free-kick taken while Tony Sylva, the Lille goalkeeper, was lining up his defensive wall. Such flexible refereeing may be rare in Le Championnat but given that Thierry Henry has twice scored such goals in the Premiership, and once for France, the French game can hardly be unaware of the practice.

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The other issues are more complex. The most urgent is the inquiry into Lille's reaction to Giggs' goal. The second leg, at Old Trafford, is just 13 days hence and the disciplinary process must be completed by then. Uefa was yesterday awaiting the report of its match delegate, Trygve Borno, of Norway. The Uefa spokesman Rob Faulkner said: "We cannot say now what action the disciplinary committee will take, but if they find against Lille, it could well be severe." Uefa was encouraged to be firm by the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, who branded Lille's behaviour "a disgrace".

Michel Seydoux, the Lille president, and the coach Claude Puel insisted the walk-out was not an attempt to get the game abandoned. Seydoux added: "It was an emotional moment and that is the way - you put a reserve on the fourth referee. They are the French rules. Maybe it is not the same in the Champions League."

It is true that French clubs do, on rare occasions, make such a protest to the fourth official when they feel wronged, and they do so the next time the ball goes out. However, the protest does not usually involve so many players, nor is it common for coaching staff to be summoning the team off the field, as happened on Tuesday night. The Dutch officials, and United players, had no idea what was going on, and Uefa can be expected to take a dim view.

Had Lille's players refused to continue the club could have expected to be expelled from this season's competition and banned from next season's at the very least. As it was they may be fined heavily but allowed to play on under threat of a suspended ban. Seydoux may also be censured by Uefa for alleging that Braamhaar was biased.

He said: "If Lille had done the same thing the referee would not have allowed the goal. Our players could not understand the decision because it would not have happened at the other end."

The most difficult aspect of the inquiry will involve the crowd problems in Lens. Again there is a cultural difference. The prime cause may have been overcrowding, possibly a consequence of police allowing United supporters with tickets for the Lille section to move into the away end. When supporters who were being crushed as a result tried to escape the police violently over-reacted, wielding batons and spraying tear gas.

However, the police could point out that United fans had no business buying tickets allocated to home supporters and should have dispersed themselves better - from a distance it was clear there was room at the end of the section. Better stewarding could have solved the latter problem but the conflict was partly a consequence of different experiences. Having not suffered a Hillsborough the French are less aware of the dangers of crushing, but they are worried about hooliganism. It was in Lens that Daniel Nivel, a policeman, was kicked to death by German hooligans during France '98. Many of the Lens police will have been nervous, frightened even. When they saw the United fans trying to get on to the pitch it is no surprise the first assumption was a pitch invasion was intended. The crowd problems, incidentally, have been virtually ignored in the French media.

The United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who suffered blurred vision as a result of the tear gas being used at his end of the field, has shrugged off Lille's complaints and said that the French club only have themselves to blame.

In particular, Van der Sar has little sympathy for his Lille counterpart Sylva, who was still lining up his wall when Giggs stroked home the free-kick. "It is obvious as a keeper you have to be aware of situations like that," the Dutchman said.

"The rules are the same everywhere. If a player asks the referee if he can take a quick free-kick, he can take it. We have seen this kind of thing happen all over Europe and Ryan showed good imagination by taking advantage of the situation. As a keeper, that kind of thing will probably happen to you once in your career. It was a good time for it to happen in our favour."

Van der Sar was unaware of the exact nature of the problem behind him, though he said: "The problem definitely distracted me. I know they used tear gas or something because in the last 20 minutes of the first half I got blurred vision. Thankfully, the physios put some fluid in my eye at half-time and that stopped the problem."

United have asked supporters caught up in the problems at the Stade Felix Bollaert to e-mail them on lille@manutd.co.uk

'The police reaction just made things worse'

Manchester United fans caught up in the crush scare during their Champions League game in France have blamed the police for over-reacting.

In a reminder of the Hillsborough disaster, some visiting United fans appeared in danger of being crushed against a 10ft-high metal pitch perimeter fence. At least two supporters were lifted over the barrier, while security officials slammed shut a gate which had been pushed open by United supporters trying to relieve the pressure.

Lifelong fan Mark Harrison, 27, from Lymm, Cheshire, said panic erupted in the stands at the Stade Felix Bollaert.

"One young woman fell forward and was crushed against the fence, I don't know what caused it," he said. "She was crying and tried to climb over the fence. When all the other fans saw this they started to panic and did the same.

"I think people were worried it might be like Hillsborough and so they started climbing the fence and trying to get out of the stand. The police reaction was well over the top, they started spraying us with pepper spray, my eyes were streaming and I couldn't catch my breath. The police reaction just made things worse."

Harrison, who remained in the stand, said he saw riot police hitting supporters with batons.

"I've seen trouble at football matches before but never to this extent," he said. "It was quite frightening to witness these kind of scenes. I think some of the fans may have initially over-reacted to the situation in the stand, but the police made the situation escalate out of control."

United's director of communications Phil Townsend, said he wants supporters who were in the ground to contact the club with their versions of events.

"We are collating some of the experiences of the fans to get a picture of what happened," he said. "We need to establish exactly what happened before we move on."

Tear gas and tantrums: How Lille's big night turned sour

Crowd Trouble

About 15 minutes into the match it became apparent there were problems amid the away support. Fans began to attempt to force open a gate in the 10-foot fence and to climb over it. Stewards and police, apparently unaware this was a consequence of overcrowding, responded by wielding batons and spraying tear gas. Several Manchester United fans were injured.

Giggs' Goal

With seven minutes remaining and the game goalless Manchester United were awarded a free-kick. As Tony Sylva, the goalkeeper, lined up his defensive wall, Ryan Giggs asked the Dutch referee if he could take a quick kick. Eric Braamhaar agreed. Giggs scored. Sylva was booked amid protests by Lille. The French club then kicked the ball into touch from the kick-off and began to walk off. After several minutes of argument involving match officials, and players and staff of both clubs, play resumed with a United throw-in.

The Free-Kick Law

The referee only needs to blow his whistle if the attacking team ask him to move the wall back. Otherwise, the kick can be taken quickly, without warning.