The wife of referee Michael Oliver has spoken about the abuse she received after her husband awarded a late penalty against Juventus in the Champions League.
The English official awarded a last-gasp spot kick for a foul by Medhi Benatia, then sent of Gigi Buffon for his protestations.
The wife of referee Michael Oliver has spoken about the abuse she received after her husband awarded a late penalty against Juventus in the Champions League.
The English official awarded a last-gasp spot kick for a foul by Medhi Benatia, then sent of Gigi Buffon for his protestations.
The Bianconeri captain was fiercely critical of Oliver in his post-match interviews, but admitted yesterday that he had "crossed the line".
“With that Juventus game, I was watching it on television at home,” Lucy Oliver told The News.
“Then someone came to my house and shouted ‘Your husband is a [expletive]’ through the letterbox.
“I was in the house on my own, I could see those Tweets, then I heard that. I was crying my eyes out and had to call the police.
“During the next four or five days I was never on my own, it was a mixture of the police always being there or a member of Michael’s family.
“And the Premier League were unbelievable, absolutely fantastic. Everyone was so supportive and, thankfully, that was the only person who came round to our house.
“I came off social media for two weeks and have now changed my settings so I won’t receive notifications unless it’s someone I am following.
“I no longer see what they are Tweeting me. It’s a shame, but while social media has its perks, it also has setbacks.
“I have learnt over time is it’s best to take yourself off Twitter for a week or two, let someone else’s news story take over and then go back on because I’m one person, I’m not going to win.
“There is more to be said for walking away than arguing. If you argue with idiots you don’t drag them up to your level, you go down to theirs.
“Silence cannot be misquoted, so if I had Tweeted anything over that week it would have been in the papers even more than it was.
“I was being approached by national reporters all the time, all the time. They don’t tend to take no for an answer.
“I had to contact the Premier League to ask for a few journalists in particular to back off because they were trying to contact me through work, personal circles, social media and family.
“One of them even contacted a place where I carried out consultancy work about two years ago for the Youth Sports Trust and asked them to get in touch with me. I thought ‘This is just getting ridiculous, I’m not going to comment’.
“I think the key was for Michael and myself to both remain silent and not say anything, not change who we are not, not change what we do.
“Ultimately the storm will pass – and thankfully it did pass.”