It's been a disaster waiting to happen for a while now. Fans bring along hundreds of balloons and release them to blow along the field. Usually, it's done well before the start and the balloons disperse in the wind before the match starts, leaving only the occasional culprit to drift across the field of play.
But on Sunday referee Alan Wiley or one of his assistants really should have spotted that a large bunch of about blue and white 100 balloons had been blown against one goal and were littering the Manchester City penalty area. Sure enough, when Sheffield United broke and their winger passed the ball into the six yard box, balloon strike took place. The ball was slowed just enough to make the Man City defender miss it and Sheffield Utd scored, laying the foundations for a shock FA Cup victory.
Law 5 of the Laws of the Game states the referee "stops the match because of outside interference of any kind." Riley should have stopped play, got the players to pop the balloons and carried on. Total delay? probably a minute ot two maximum.
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