In that piece, I stated that according to FIFA, Nicolas Anelka's actions in trying to get the ball off of Ashley after he (Nic) had scored against us on Sunday were worthy of an automatic yellow card. It makes sense doesn't it? It's Arsenal's kick-off so what business does a Man City player have in grabbing the ball?

But it is clearly a grey area, since the rules do state that "delaying the re-start" is an automatic yellow, and since we couldn't find the obscure rule which Philippe Auclair had told us about. Several referees wrote to Arseweb saying, "well, I've never heard of this rule...".

Today, however, Philippe provides chapter and verse....

The following is a literal translation of text that can be found in the 2004 edition of "Football and Its Laws", which is given by the Fédération Francaise de Football" to all its referees. The text appears as an "additional question" relating to "unsporting behaviour after a goal has been scored".

"(The question:) When a critical goal has been scored, an attacking player, e.g. the goalscorer, rushes in to try and grab the ball, and bring it quickly to the centre circle. A defender intervenes to prevent him doing so. What should the referee's decision be?"

"(The decision:) This attitude creates a conflictual situation and should be sanctioned by a yellow card, awarded to the attacking player for 'unsporting behaviour'. Law 8 is clear: it is the team that has been scored against which must restart the game. Because of this, the ball belongs to the team which restarts the game according to Law 8."

It seems pretty clear to us, although we apologise for referring previously to rule 10 when it appears to be rule 8 which is significant. If Ashley had been hiding the ball under his jersey or otherwise delaying things then fair enough, but he wasn't (Nic never gave him time!).

The only question remaining, and its an interesting one, is whether or not this rule is applied differently in France. But note that even if the question and answer quoted above does not appear in any FA publication, that does not mean it does not apply in England. The text from the French Federation publication is intended to be a clarification of the rules rather than a definition.

And anyway, Nic is French and so are Arsenal :)