THE FA have axed World Cup final linesman Darren Cann from officiating a Crystal Palace game FOR THE SECOND TIME after forgetting he used to play for the Eagles’ reserve team.
Despite the 47-year-old having run the line in the planet’s biggest football match at Brazil 2014 – and the 2010 Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich – he has been banned from working at the FA Cup fourth-round clash against Manchester City at Selhurst Park.
English footballs governing body has decided the brief time Cann playing for the youth and second-string sides in south London means he is incapable of calling offsides, throw-ins and the likes at the weekend.
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Cann came through the youth ranks at Norwich before Palace boss Steve Coppell signed him as a promising youngster in the 1980s but he failed to progress to the first team.
After quitting the game, Cann began refereeing in 1991 and quickly excelled and received successive promotions to become a class 1 ref in 1993.
Cann was recently handed the duty only for the FA to have to backtrack and snatch the chance away from the official – and it’s not even the first time.
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Cann was dropped from the 2008 Eagles' Championship play-off semi-final against Bristol City after his playing 'career' with Palace was reported.
But the Wembley blazers have did not learn their lesson and have now had to withdraw him for a second time after asking him to run the rule of Sam Allardyce’s side.
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