Valentin Ivanov: Profile of the latest World Cup “hero”
The record number of cards shown by Valentin Ivanov is not the first time he has been the subject of controversy. Ivanov was the man who gave Villarreal their last minute “penalty” in the Champions League semi-final with Arsenal. At Euro 2004 he averaged 5.5 yellow cards per game, being outdone only by Manuel Gonzalez of Spain, Urs Maier of Switzerland and Portugal’s Lucilio Baptista who averaged and incredible 10 yellow cards per match.
His piece de resistance came in May 2003 when he was banned for two months from refereeing Russian League and Cup matches. His crime? changing his mind about awaring a goal after seeing a video replay while the game was being played. The incident occurred in the Cup semi-final between Rostov and Adzi Makhakhala. At first Ivanov awarded a goal in favour of Rostov. However, following intense protests from their opponents Ivanov decided to consult the video replay and eventually to annul the goal. The game was held up for 20 minutes before Ivanov finally decided that the ball had struck a hand and therefore should not have counted. At first Ivanov denied that the incident had taken place but was forced into an admission by the publication of photos depicting it in the Russian press….
