REFEREE OF THE WEEK: MIKE JONES

Mike Jones - beach ball incident. 

THE referee for the match between QPR and Crystal Palace on Sunday December 28 will be Mike Jones.

The Chester official, who is 46, was in charge for  QPR's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on  November 1  this season and Palace's 3-3 draw at Newcastle on August 30.

In October, 2009, Jones infamously made the headlines in a match between Sunderland and Liverpool when he allowed the only goal of the match, scored by  Darren Bent for Sunderland, to stand even though it had been deflected by a beach ball thrown on to the pitch by a  fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5loeV-_4og

Under the Laws of the Game, the beach ball should have been considered an "outside agent", and Jones should have disallowed the goal and awarded a drop-ball.

He was subsequently demoted for one week to officiate a match in the Football League Championship the following weekend.

The beach ball, which had been thrown by a Liverpool fan, is now on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.
http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/
 
Jones was the fourth official for the 2012 FA Cup Final in May 2012 when Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1.

Photo credit: Ronnie Macdonald/Flickr via Wikipedia Commons