England vs Wales Euro 2016: Richard Keys makes ridiculous claim that linesman should have waved Jamie Vardy offside

Ashley Williams' header played Vardy onside as the Leicester striker scored England's equaliser

Jack de Menezes
Thursday 16 June 2016 15:41 BST
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Bein Sport presenter Richard Keys believed Jamie Vardy should have been flagged offside
Bein Sport presenter Richard Keys believed Jamie Vardy should have been flagged offside (Rex Features)

Jamie Vardy scored a welcome equaliser against Wales to ease fears among England fans who feared that worst after Gareth Bale’s opener, with concerns that the Leicester striker’s effort was offside banished after it was revealed to be a header from Ashley Williams that knocked the ball down for him to power into the net.

Yet even the television replays, which confirmed it was the Wales defender who played the ball on for Vardy, were not enough to convince Richard Keys. The former Sky Sports presenter – now working out in the Middle East with Bein Sports, believed that the linesman should have flagged for offside – even though he accepted it wasn’t offside.

The initial assessment was that Vardy was a good five yards offside following a knock down from a Daniel Sturridge cross, but the replay proved that the linesman, Stefan Lupp, had made the correct decision.

Keys wasn’t having it though. Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “Somehow the officials have got that right - but surely the lino should still flag?”

Needless to say, Keys’s statement makes no sense whatsoever. If Lupp has spotted the header from Williams, then he should not put his flag up. If he has missed both the touch from Williams and the offside, then he would continue to keep his flag down. The only way it would go up is if he had seen something that hadn’t happened in the form of an English player touching the ball before Vardy struck it into the net.

Needless to say, Twitter wasn’t best pleased with Keys.

If Keys’s statement wasn’t bad enough, fans in the United Kingdom also had to sit through commentary from Robbie Savage and Martin Keown, who made it pretty obvious that they used to play for Wales and England respectively.

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