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At least 20,000 people have signed an online petition asking for the removal of New Zealand referee Peter O’ Leary from the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament after he was spotted celebrating Nigeria’s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.
The kiwi referee was criticized for being biased as some of his unfair decisions ultimately resulted in Bosnia and Herzegovina crashing out of the tournament.
The first of O’ Leary’s wrong decision was witnessed in the 21st minute of the game when a goal by Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko was disallowed despite the striker being clearly on-side.
The Nigerian’s took the lead in the 29th minute when Peter Odemwingie put the African’s up front, but a clear foul by Emmanuel Emenike of Emir Spahic for which the former should have been penalized went unnoticed despite protest by Bosnia players.
Dzeko who later scored a goal which ultimately went in vain termed the New Zealander’s performance as shameful and called for his removal by FIFA.
"We tried to come back after the goal where there was obviously a foul on our captain and before when I scored a goal it was not offside. Nigeria played good as well, but the referee was shameful for this competition" said Dzeko.
The incident prompted a Bosnian fan to start the online petition where he asks FIFA not only to debar O’Leary from refereeing further but also change the outcome of the match to 1-1 from the actual 2-1.
