5 terrible tackles that went unpunished

#3 Harald Schumacher on Patrick Battiston

So if a player tackles another player so badly that it leaves him on the ground without any consciousness, while also losing three teeth in the process, what should a referee do? Show him a red card and, even better, personally escort him out of the pitch by holding his back-neck, right?

Well, not this referee who officiated a World Cup semi-final game between West Germany and France in 1982. As Patrick Battiston, the French defender, rushed towards the German goalkeeper in an attempt to lob the ball over him and into the goal, Schumacher mistimed... sorry, purposely timed his jump in the worst possible way.

The goalkeeper’s flying body, that turned midway to make his hips face forward, hit the face of the Frenchman, making him drop on the floor instantly and becoming unconscious in the process. If not punishing Schumacher wasn’t enough as it was already, the referee actually gave Germany a goal-kick instead.

In the end, Germany won the match 5-4 on penalties.

Talk about adding salt to wound.