Norway’s last second goal against South Korea in the semifinals put them through to the Gold Medal game. According to this photo that has surfaced on the internet, however, the ball had failed to fully cross the goal line prior to time expiring. The Koreans protested and requested that the game continue at the overtime point. The IHF has rejected this protest on the grounds that it was a “factual decision.”

[b]Link to photo of shot[/b]: http://img2.dcinside.com/viewimage.php?id=beijing2008&no=29bcc427b48777a16fb3dab004c86b6f0cb660735f0b8827253bc98cb2be5c4b7b4d4ea03c6140e955a57f6210bac572b41a993534c5b54f66d1e111f2801c8b7cd7c0a5b826b5ac21be4593248050dc6ee05ea6831185a9&f_no=7fed807eb58a6af73fed87ec45807d6f82bdcc058b6732258a7cfe96c0c1

[b]IHF note on Korean Protest: [/b] http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=269&idart=1550

[b]Editor’s note[/b]: I’m not a lawyer, but when I hear the term “factual decision” intuitively it means to me that something is a fact and it can’t be disputed. Whereas in this case, it seems to me that the referees actually made a “judgment call” which was a split second wrong. If anyone can chime in with what factual decision means in this instance please do so in the comments section

[b]Addendum: [/b]According to this press report, the Koreans staged a 20 minute sit-in after the match: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/S-Korea-women–s-handball-team-stages-sit-in-after-semi-loss/351683/