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"Horrible, horrible, bizarre" - Jacqui Oatley on Cameroon's antics

Until England and Cameroon faced off in the FIFA Women's World Cup last-16, there hadn't been man...
Raf Diallo
Raf Diallo

19.44 24 Jun 2019


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"Horrible, horrible, bizarre" - Jacqui Oatley on Cameroon's antics


Raf Diallo
Raf Diallo

19.44 24 Jun 2019


Share this article


Until England and Cameroon faced off in the FIFA Women's World Cup last-16, there hadn't been many controversial flashpoints. 

That changed on Sunday as Cameroon's players became irate about VAR decisions, among other incidents.

It sparked a furious England manager Phil Neville to condemn Cameroon's behaviour at full-time.

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"It didn’t feel like football. This is going out worldwide. Young girls are watching that. I can’t stand here and say that’s right. There’s a certain standard of behaviour," he said, adding, "their behaviour was wrong".

Broadcaster Jacqui Oatley joined us to discuss the fallout from the match.

"I can understand why he was so irate," she said of Neville's anger.

"Part of it is just not the way the game went. But part of it was he was coming off at the end of that game having just seen his captain have her ankle stamped on right in front of him.

Incredible conduct... and not in a good way

"The referee sees it again and calls it a yellow card, knowing that there was a chance his captain could be out of the whole World Cup for something as malicious as it was."

Oatley added of the incidents, "It was a horrible, horrible, bizarre thing to watch and it wasn't just one incident. It was one after another and the general conduct was just incredible."

Those incidents littered the game from early on, including a spitting incident.

"As Toni Duggan put her arm out... the [Cameroon] defender then spat at her arm and you could see for all the world, there was spit all over her arm," said Oatley.

"It was a lot of spit - it wasn't a little bit. So it was a series of incidents ."

At one point it also appeared as if Cameroon's players would walk off after the awarding of England's second goal.

"They completely lost their cool," said Oatley of the incidents that followed.

"It's a real shame. I think I'm probably in the minority that had sympathy with the referee. Of course, she didn't command the game as you would hope a World Cup referee would.

"But there are a lot of officials here who simply don't referee top level football week in, week out."


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Cameroon England Football Jacqui Oatley Off The Ball Phil Neville Women's World Cup

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