Nazi shadow over `golden goal' rule

Making an early bid for the tournament's most bizarre public statement is a certain Alfredo Poge, the president of the hitherto little-known International Federation of Football History and Statistics.

The object of his scorn is the sudden-death "golden goal" rule Uefa is using at Euro 96, with knock-out stage games being decided by the first goal scored in extra time. Poge claims this rule was invented by the Nazi party in 1935 and used within Germany until 1944. "This rule does not allow for equal chances and fosters caution and fear of `sudden death'," Poge rages. "You can't glorify something the Nazis introduced. It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth." Quite...