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13th May 2016

Referee Andre Marriner comes under fire for controversial disallowed goal in play-offs

Tom Victor

The Championship play-off final is often described as the richest game in football.

That moniker is especially accurate this season, with an increased Premier League purse awaiting whichever team joins Burnley and Middlesbrough in the top flight.

That means referees will be under the microscope more than usual, and Andre Marriner felt the brunt of the tension after disallowing a goal from Sheffield Wednesday in their play-off semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Fernando Forestieri thought he had given the hosts a first-half lead, only for Marriner and his assistants to take a very long time to rule out the strike.

Naturally, fans were none too happy with the ruling, and the officials were booed off at half-time despite Ross Wallace giving Wednesday a half-time lead.

https://twitter.com/dreamtime1788/status/731205156151410688

But it wasn’t all criticism

And some thought the amount of time taken was bizarre at best

Eventually, and perhaps inevitably, someone suggested a wider conspiracy.