Dubious Goals Committee

The Dubious Goals Committee is a committee within the Premier League, the top level of association football in England, which adjudicates in any instance where the identity of the scorer of a goal is disputed.

The Committee meets on an ad hoc basis, whenever a disputed goal is brought to its attention. This is generally around three or four times each season.[1]

Contents

Committee

The Committee is made up of three former football players or football officials. The identity of the Committee members at any given time is kept secret in order to protect Committee members from undue influence to make any particular decision. [1]

Role of the Committee

The role of the Committee is solely to determine the identity of the goal scorer to be entered into the separate official records of that player, his club, and the league. It will therefore be noted that the Committee does not enquire into:

  • whether a goal has been scored. This is a matter for the officials attending the match in question.
  • assists. These are attributed to players by their clubs.

There is no comparable body for other football leagues in the United Kingdom. In all other football matches in the United Kingdom, the identity of the goalscorer is determined by the club that scored the goal.

Adjudication process

The adjudication process comprises the viewing of video evidence followed by discussion by the Committee members. The guiding principle when adjudicating is as follows:

"As a rule, if the initial attempt is goalbound it is credited to the player making the goal attempt. However if the deflection means that a wayward effort results in a goal then it is attributed to the player who had the last definitive touch of the ball." [1]

Selected decisions

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Ingle, Sean; Glendenning, Barry; Dart, James (23 August 2006). "Is there really a Dubious Goals Committee?". The Knowledge. The Guardian. http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/story/0,,1855736,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-28.