Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg believes that Anthony Taylor was responsible for triggering unsavoury scenes at the end of South Korea's match with Ghana at the World Cup - as he ignored an unwritten refereeing rule and blew up early.
Taylor was the man in charge for the highly-charged Group H match, which was eventually won 3-2 by Ghana. The African nation, led by Otto Addo, had raced into a two-goal lead courtesy of first-half strikes from Mohammed Salisu and Mohammed Kudus. But South Korea fought back and restored parity with a quickfire brace from Cho Gue-sung.
Kudus grabbed his second just minutes later to hand Ghana their only win of the tournament - although South Korea had the last laugh by progressing at both Ghana and Uruguay's expense.
While Ghana picked up the points, South Korea were left incensed at Taylor's decision to blow up deep into additional time before a corner could be taken. And Clattenburg, now head of the Egyptian FA's refereeing system, has hit out at Taylor for ignoring an unwritten refereeing rule which encourages officials to avoid ending the game during an attacking phase.
Reacting to the drama in his Daily Mail column, Clattenburg wrote: "I once blew before a corner could be taken — at Euro 2016 between Croatia and Czech Republic. Luka Modric and co weren’t happy. But that was different. That was for half-time.
"Anthony Taylor blowing for full-time before South Korea could take their corner against Ghana sparked ugly scenes. Referees are urged not to end the game in an attacking phase. A corner is an extension of that, and I’m sure there had been enough stoppages in the 10 minutes of extra time to enable South Korea to take the set-piece."
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Taylor's decision to end the game sparked chaotic scenes after the final whistle. South Korea boss Paulo Bento was shown a red card for his vociferous protests by Taylor.
Just days after his post-match meltdown, Bento announced he was leaving his role as boss of the South Korea national team following their exit during the Round of 16 phase.
After finishing as Group H runners-up behind Portugal, South Korea were handed a date with five-time world champions Brazil. But Bento's side were blown away by the pre-tournament favourites - and Bento revealed that he was done after the crushing 4-1 defeat.
"I have just announced to the players and the president of the federation that this is a decision I took in September," he said after the match. "It is set in stone and I have confirmed it. I have to thank everyone for everything they have done. From now onwards we have to think about the future. I’m going to rest and we have to see what will happen after I rest. We have to congratulate Brazil because they were better than us."
