More than 270,000 fans have signed a petition demanding that UEFA replay the European Championship round of 16 clash between France and Switzerland because ‘the rules were not respected’ during the penalty shootout.
France were eliminated from this summer’s tournament when Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer produced a fine stop to deny Kylian Mbappe.
Sommer didn’t celebrate until he received official confirmation from VAR that the penalty save was legal but despite officials agreeing that he did play by the rules, a petition was launched soon after claiming his foot was NOT on the line.
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| Image: leslignesbougen |
As reported by numerous media outlets including RTL Sport and Football.Fr, over 270,000 people have signed the petition, despite a number of pictures from several different angles showing that Sommer’s foot was on the line when Mbappe hit the ball.
The petition reads: “During the penalty shoot-out for the France – Switzerland match, goalkeeper Sommer was not on his line during Mbappé’s shot. We request the cancellation of the qualification of Switzerland and therefore to replay the match.
“Sport must be played within the rules and that evening the rules were not respected.”
Sommer’s foot leaves the line moments before Mbappé shoots but he times the push perfectly and it’s back on the line when the penalty is taken.
— Jacopo Piotto (@jacopopiotto) June 28, 2021
This is mad technique by Sommer. Kept one foot on the line. pic.twitter.com/8LoHJbIUIf
— Clint. (@CleanThing_) June 28, 2021
Well ignore the fact Sommer was miles off his line though 😉🤷🏼♂️ #france #FRASUI pic.twitter.com/GTuBrnaJsU
— Jamie Ohara (@Mrjamieohara1) June 28, 2021
You can see footage of the penalty save below that confirms Sommer did have his foot on the line when Mbappe struck the penalty.
🚨 SOMMER SAVES MBAPPE’S PENALTY AND SWITZERLAND HAVE KNOCKED FRANCE OUT!!! 🚨
WE REPEAT: SWITZERLAND HAVE KNOCKED FRANCE OUT OF EURO 2020! 😱#FRASUI | #ITVFootball | #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/iD7BiAeL8l
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 28, 2021
After the final whistle, Sommer said he ‘always believed’ Switzerland could win against favourites France.
“What a game, what a night of football,’ Sommer told EURO2020.com. “The end is crazy, it is beautiful but how we came back during the game from two goals down, I am really proud of this team.
‘We always believed, we always said if we are down we will go to the end and not give up. It was our chance to go through. it is incredible how we played.
“Anything is possible but that is always in football. We believed it, we are a small country but we have a lot of quality and have experience in our squad. We showed it.”
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| Image credit: PA |
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