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| World Cup ref feeling flush ![]() The referee accused of ending Italy's World Cup dreams is to have a toilet block named after him. Byron Moreno's moniker will grace four new public loos in Sicily's Santa Teresa Riva resort. And you can bet your bottom lira they'll be very popular. Moreno was the man in the middle when Italy lost their second round clash with South Korea 2-1.
The Ecuadorean referee was strongly criticised by the whole of Italy for disallowing a golden goal, turning down a penalty claim and sending off Francesco Totti. Even Franco Frattini, Italy's minister for public offences, got involved, suggesting the authorities "seemed as if they just sat around a table and decided to throw us out". Now it's payback time. Banned Santa Teresa Riva mayor, Nino Bartolotta, has agreed to the Moreno nameplates being attached to the seafront conveniences. And local administrator Pasquale Scarcella insisted: "We look at this as an outstanding opportunity for the locals and the tourists to remember Moreno's performance at the World Cup." As if that wasn't bad enough, Moreno has just been banned for 20 games by the Ecuadorean Football Federation for his suspicious handling of a game.
The controversial official added on 13 minutes of extra-time during Sunday's first division match between Barcelona Guayaquil and Liga de Quito. During that time, Quito came from 3-2 down to win 4-3, in a game which also saw two highly dubious penalties and a disallowed goal. By a strange coincidence, Moreno is a candidate for election to the Quito city council in October. If he carries on like this, his career aspirations will quickly disappear down the pan. |
See also: 18 Jun 02 | South Korea v Italy Top Funny Old Game stories now: Links to more Funny Old Game stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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