Poll backed by league chiefs

Referee Graham Poll has been backed by the Premier League over his decision to allow Thierry Henry’s quickly taken free-kick against Chelsea to stand.

Poll has been under fire after allowing Henry to put Arsenal 2-1 ahead at Highbury on Sunday with a 20-yard free-kick that caught Chelsea napping.

Henry curled the ball into the corner of the net while Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was still organising his defensive wall. Poll’s decision left the Chelsea players and manager Jose Mourinho fuming because the official did not blow his whistle to restart the game.

The Premier League today backed Poll’s handling of the incident and confirmed the rules do not require him to blow the whistle in such circumstances.

A statement from the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) read: “For an indirect free-kick the referee indicates the nature at the free-kick by raising his arm above his head.

“He maintains that position until the kick has been taken and the ball has either touched another player or has gone out of play.

“There is no mention in the law about a quick free-kick but referees will offer every advantage to the offended side, and give them the opportunity for a quick free-kick to maximise every opportunity to score a goal.

“Referees will ask attacking players if they require a quick free-kick, if they say no then the referee will manage the free-kick and ensure that all defending players are at least 9.15 metres from the ball.

“If the attacking players ask for a quick free-kick, the referee will allow them to get on with it. In the Arsenal v Chelsea game Graham Poll was seen to ask Thierry Henry if he wanted a quick free-kick. Once Henry had confirmed that he did, Graham Poll asked Eidur Gudjohnsen to move away from the ball and signalled for Henry to take the free-kick.

“Poll was not required to blow his whistle, merely to signal to Henry. The referee is also not required to step away from the centre of the incident.

“When a defending player stands over the ball in an attempt to prevent a quick free-kick from being taken, that player will be cautioned. In Sunday’s game Gudjohnsen did retreat when asked to do so by the referee.”

Gudjohnsen insists that Poll had told his team-mates he would blow his whistle when ready to restart the game.

He said: “We asked the referee to blow the whistle and he told one of our players he was going to. I saw in Henry’s reaction that he didn’t want the whistle and in the end it looked like a set-piece from the training ground, where one player stands in front of the ball and just jumps out of the way.

“Sometimes they go for you and sometimes they go against but luckily Arsenal didn’t gain any points on us because of something like that.”

Mourinho is still incensed and feels Chelsea fans should not be satisfied with a draw that keeps them five points ahead of Arsenal.

“The game had a dark moment and it’s difficult to forget that,” Mourinho said.

“The way both teams fought and performed made the result fair but Chelsea scored two goals and Arsenal only scored one.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea goalkeeper Cech has denied labelling Poll a ‘cheat’ by allowing the goal to stand.

The Czech Republic international was alleged to have made his comments in a Czech newspaper and on his own website, but the Chelsea today said the quotes were "exaggerated and badly translated".