In association football, a ghost goal (or phantom goal) is either a goal wrongly awarded despite the ball not having crossed the goal line, or a goal wrongly not given despite the ball having crossed the line. In an attempt to combat ghost goals, rules allowing goal-line technology (GLT) were passed by the International Football Association Board in 2012 and have consequently been introduced for some football competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Premier League. The video assistant referee (VAR), introduced in 2018, provides an alternative system to GLT, and is cheaper to introduce and operate than the FIFA qualified GLT systems.
Etymology
In Germany, the term "Phantomtor" usually refers to a Bundesliga "goal" awarded to Bayern Munich player Thomas Helmer in April 1994 against 1. FC Nürnberg, as his team scraped to a 2–1 victory. It was an error of judgement by the match officials, as the ball missed the goal and instead went over the byline. The "goal" had direct implications on the outcome of the competition at both ends of the table — had the Phantomtor not stood and the match finished 1–1, Bayern Munich would have ultimately lost out on the league title on goal difference and Nürnberg would have survived relegation by one point — and led to an official objection by FIFA because the German Football Association ordered the result to be annulled and the game to be replayed. A re-match eventually took place and Bayern Munich ran out 5–0 winners.
The term "ghost goal" in the English language arose from a quote by Chelsea manager José Mourinho, following a 2005 Champions League semi-final second leg against Liverpool, ultimately decided by a single goal by Luis García, awarded by referee Ľuboš Micheľ, but dubbed a "ghost goal" and described as "a goal that came from the moon" by Mourinho. Television replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball crossed the line or not. Micheľ said that his decision was based on the reaction of the assistant referee, who signalled that the ball had indeed crossed over the line, but had he not awarded Liverpool the goal, he would have awarded them a penalty kick and sent off Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech for a foul on Milan Baroš instead. After studying a series of still images of the incident, motion expert Dr. Mike Spann concluded that Micheľ had made the correct decision by signalling a goal.
After the 2005 incident, the terms "ghost goal" and "phantom goal" have both been used to describe similar incidents at both club and international level.
Incidents at club level
In 1980, Clive Allen shot a free kick for Crystal Palace against Coventry City, after which the ball rebounded off the stanchion but the referee disallowed the goal as he thought it had just hit the outside of the stanchion. This was shown on Match of the Day on BBC television when it was then transmitted on Sunday afternoons.
In a 1993 Scottish Premier Division match between Partick Thistle and Dundee United at Firhill, the ball entered the goal and bounced back from the supporting stanchion after a close-range shot by Paddy Connolly. Despite Partick defender Martin Clark catching the ball and handing it to goalkeeper Andy Murdoch, referee Les Mottram failed to award the goal or penalise the handball and waved play on. Dundee United still won 4–0, and Mottram went on to officiate in the 1994 World Cup. The incident resulted in the stanchions, previously widely used, being removed in a re-design of football goalposts. In 2018, at the same end of the same stadium, a similar incident occurred, with Partick Thistle this time being denied a legitimate goal due to the ball taking a deceptive bounce off the bottom of the net frame.
A few months before the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool which led to the term "ghost goal" entering the lexicon, Pedro Mendes of Tottenham Hotspur caught Manchester United's goalkeeper Roy Carroll off his line with a shot from 55 yards out, in the 89th minute of a Premier League match on 4 January 2005. Carroll attempted to catch the ball but spilled it over his shoulder and a few yards over the goal line, before he scooped the ball back into the playing area. Referee Mark Clattenburg and his officials were unable to determine whether the ball had crossed the line and the game finished goalless.
