Hunt is on for mystery whistle-blower

HONG KONG - A whistle-blowing soccer fan was being sought yesterday after he nearly caused a riot at a match in Hong Kong between Denmark and Iran by fooling players into thinking it was half-time. 

At the spectator's whistle, Iranian player Alireza Vahedinikbakht picked up the ball in the penalty area and handed it to the referee who promptly awarded a penalty for hand-ball. 

Iranian fans and players were in uproar over the incident at Sunday's Carlsberg Cup match until the Danish team said they would deliberately miss the penalty. 

Captain Morten Wieghorst stepped up to the spot and knocked the ball wide of goal to wild cheering from the 20,000 crowd at the Hong Kong Stadium. 

Iran went on to win the game 1-0 through a second half penalty, qualifying for today's final against Uruguay, who earlier defeated Hong Kong 3-0. 

Tournament director Derek Currie afterwards appealed to soccer fans to turn in the spectator who blew the bogus whistle. 

“The game was shown all across Asia and it reflects badly on Hong Kong,” he said in yesterday's South China Morning Post. 

“That person should never be allowed into a stadium again ... We don't need idiots like that spoiling a competitive football match.” – dpa