Melbourne, June 18 : Infuriated soccer fans in Poland have offered Polish citizenship to an English referee, to stop him from officiating over any match involving the country again.

The invitation comes in line with Howard Webb's decision to award a last-minute penalty to Austria in their Euro 2008 showdown with Poland, for which he also faces death threats.

According to reports from Ananova.com, fans claim that offering him a passport will be the only way to avoid him from their national team. Thus, he will not be able to preside over any match involving his own country.

"It would stop him from hurting us again," News.com.au quoted a fan, as saying on a website where the campaign began.

However Webb remains defiant, saying: "We don't want to be popular - we want to be respected."

ANI