Fears for ref Webb after death threats

"Our boys I'm sure will be in touch with Howard. We are ready to do everything necessary to provide security for him and his family."

Poland's political leader Donald Tusk revealed his fury today when he said: "As Prime Minister I have to be balanced and collected. But last night I was speaking very differently about the whole thing, I wanted to kill."

Webb was based at Sheffield as a policeman but is taking a five-year break to concentrate on his refereeing career.

His decision means Poland must beat Croatia on Monday to have any chance of going through to the last eight.

Angry Poland coach Leo Beenhakker said: "Maybe he [Webb] wants to show he is a big boy and has the guts to do it, I don't know. I've never had a problem in 43 years in football but this is something I cannot understand. We don''t have it in our own hands any more."

Midfielder Dariusz Dudka also weighed into the row and said: "If he's going to call stuff like that, there would have been 10 penalty kicks in the match.

"It's a weird situation. I don't think it was a penalty at all, all the more so because he's a referee from the English league. It's just sick to me."

Despite the Polish claims, UEFA insist Webb made the right decision. Their spokesman William Gaillard said: "There was a lot of wrestling in the area and that's probably why, since he was confronted with the problem during the match, he finally took that decision. He was certainly within the laws of the game."