Ref allowed ball boy's goal

A Brazilian referee faces suspension after she awarded a goal that was scored by a ball boy.



The 89th minute goal allowed Santacruzense to snatch a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Sorocaba.

But TV footage showed the ballboy scored the 'goal' after a Santacruzense player shot wide.

The ball boy brought the ball back on to the pitch and - instead of returning it to the goalkeeper - he tapped it over the line into the net.

Referee Silvia Regina de Oliveira awarded a goal amid furious Sorocaba protests.

Oliveira, who has refereed in the Brazilian first division and the Copa Sudamericana, said she based her decision on the linesman.

"I should have trusted my own vision," Oliveira said in a radio interview afterwards.

Marcos Marinho, head of the Paulista Football Federation's refereeing commission, said the goal would stand and the referee would face suspension.

"It was a very serious mistake and, unfortunately, the punishments will have to be applied for the referee and linesman," he said.

"There was a lapse of concentration and that can't happen in football."