Manchester United Fan Angry Over Red Card Calls Cops to Report ‘Crime’

Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday at home to Real Madrid after being up 2-1 on aggregate in the first half, but that wasn’t the wild thing that happened as a result of the match.

An 18-year-old Red Devils fan became so upset at Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir’s decision to eject United forward Nani, he dialed local authorities to report a “crime” had occurred.

The teenager has since apologized to police, but Chief Inspector Ted Antill of Nottinghamshire Police, with whom the complaint was registered, told citizens he had better things to do.

“While this recent example may be amusing, it illustrates the sort of insincere calls we have to deal with on a daily basis in the control room. They waste our time and they direct us away from genuine victims of crime, particularly if we dispatch officers out to something that turns out to be a bogus report.”

The game’s disciplinary red card, which caused uproar in the English media, caused United to go down to ten men. Madrid coach Jose Mourinho capitalized on the English club’s disarray as Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric turned the game around with goals three minutes apart.

Fortunately for the unnamed prank caller, the police department will not pursue action against him, given he apologized right away.

“There may be people out there in real trouble who need our help and they have to wait because we are tied up with calls like this one, reporting a referee from the television,” Antill said. “In this case, the man realized his bad judgment and apologized and we decided not to pursue it further.”

Europe’s governing soccer body UEFA did, however, decide to pursue action against defender Rio Ferdinand for criticism of the referees, and coach Sir Alex Ferguson for refusing to attend the mandatory post-match press conference.