Premier league referee Howard Webb has attracted the praise of many following his dealing of the Fabrice Muamba situation in the match against Tottenham recently.
Howard Webb was the referee for the match, which saw Bolton Wanderers taking on Tottenham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Just prior to the first half, Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch under no contact. He was later diagnosed with a cardiac arrest, which soon lead to his hospitalisation. The match was later abandoned after Howard Webb consulted with the managers and captains from both sides – Kevin Davies and Rafael van der Vaart.
Many have since applauded the decision by Howard Webb to abandon the match. When Fabrice Muamba was being taken to the hospital, the Tottenham crowd joined in the Bolton fans to sing the praise of the midfielder. Now, referee Howard Webb has said that the Tottenham crowd was extremely fantastic in helping him handle the situation. Howard Webb has said that the crowd had gone extremely quiet following the realisation of the seriousness of the problem. This helped the medics to provide the proper attention to Muamba. He also said that he decided to abandon the match after seeing some of the reactions from the players on seeing a player lifeless for about 70 minutes.
“My overriding memory is of the crowd reaction to it all when, suddenly, they all realised the seriousness of the situation. Firstly, they went very quiet. It was as if they all knew it was really serious. Then I could almost sense them encouraging him, and then willing someone to get a doctor. When the doctor arrived and started working on Fabrice, the crowd reaction was amazing, it was as if they were almost pushing with the doctor and willing him to get Fabrice’s heart going,” Howard Webb said in a recent interview.
