FINALLY! New LOTG in Action at Rio 2016

With changes in law like “Ball can be kicked in any direction at kick-off”, “Offside FK always taken where offence occurs (even in own half)”, and “Foul off the field penalized with a direct free kick on boundary line”, it’s no wonder why most referees were excited to watch the UEFA European Championships this year, and to get a first hand look at the new laws being applied.  The most anticipated of these changes is the new DOGSO part of Law 12 in that the “triple punishment” has been removed and some DOGSO offences inside the penalty area are now punished with a Caution (yellow card).  However, as exciting as the 2016 Euro’s were, I was personally a little disappointed in that there weren’t very much match incidents, or at least controversial incidents to really talk about.  On one hand, I applaud the officials at this years tournament for the exemplary job they did at managing and controlling each match.  On the other hand, by the end of the month-long event, the referee community still didn’t have much examples of the new laws in action.  That is until now…

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Thank you IFAB for yet another monkey wrench!

Recently, IFAB has sent out a new circular heavily pertaining to Law 11 and the interpretation of the offside law.  In particular, it pays close attention to “Interfering with and opponent” and the act of a “”Save”.  Along with the circular, The FA have also distributed a clarification memo, and illustrative examples to help referees at all levels understand what is actually being discussed.  I’m not going to go into them in great detail – if you would like to see the material for yourself, you are more than welcome to download them below:

A Caution, is a Caution…is ALWAYS a Caution.

It’s always a downer when you’re all geared up and ready for a match, only to get an email notification that your game tonight has been cancelled, or rescheduled.  That’s what happened to me last night however, I was able to salvage what was left of my evening by catching the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship semi final between Toronto FC and Montreal Impact.  Thankfully the game was very exciting and fairly high scoring as Toronto was losing on aggregate and needed a fairly high number of goals if they wanted any part in the final.  The blind mice for the night did a tremendous job of controlling the match without any major problems however, I did feel that there was an opportunity for a Montreal send off.

Who Needs Cards, Anyway?

Being the football referee enthusiast that I am, and a self proclaimed nerd when it comes to things of this nature, I am often left wondering about situations and their probability of actually coming to pass, not just in my own appointments, but in games my friends watch over or matches I see on TV. I also like to ponder on the reasons why certain things are the way they are, and how/when they came to be. Often these two curiosities work hand in hand as finding the answer to one, inevitably answers the other. Over the weekend, a friend asked a hypothetical scenario which did exactly that; the answer sparked my wonder and I went searching for answers.(I should preface the question by saying that DMC knows the answer but was just thinking about the mechanics and complexity of the situation.)

The scenario as asked by DMC goes like this:

“Player commits cautionable offence (doesn’t matter what it is really – but let’s say a reckless tackle). You take out your pad/card to write it down before showing the yellow. Player smacks said pad/card out of your hand – You show a red card for that.Question: Do you still record the yellow you were going to give? If so, when do you consider the caution “recorded”? When the act is committed that warrants the caution, when you decide in your head you’re giving a caution, or when you show/write the caution (whichever comes first)?”

As the Saying Goes – Fool Me Once…EmbarrASSed

One of the most embarrassing moments out on the FOP for a referee is when we get duped into believing simulation.  This is also one of the hardest things to catch, and IMHO the biggest “disease” in the beautiful game.  There are plenty of things that we can do as referees in order better understand and catch the culprits as they try to trick and deceive us (see l’arbitre’s post on simulation).  However, no matter how close we are to play, how focused and concentrated we are, or how diligent we we try to be in all our games, sometimes the actors on the FOP catch us off guard and we fall for their theatrics.

 

LOTG Contradictions: Backwards PK and Restart

After a referee education session this past week, a couple of us stayed back to discuss this crazy instance where the LOTG kind of contradicts itself.  It’s with regards to a backwards penalty kick.  No, I’m not talking about the insanity above (which, by the way, it completely legal).  The question goes like this….

Football Myths – Part 3: Playing On the Ground

Player:  “REF!  He’s on the ground!!!”

Referee:  “OK….and???”

Sound familiar?  It should, because I hear this at least once or twice every single game.  What players fail to realize is that playing the ball while on the ground isn’t actually against the Laws of the Game.  Every time I hear this protest I challenge players and coaches to find me the reference in the LOTG that says a player cannot play the ball while on the ground.  Since most players and coaches don’t have the LOTG handy, let’s figure it out for them.

On & Off the Pitch

Football refereeing is so much more than carrying the whistle/flag on the field of play. Perhaps too many player assume that we think we know the game, come into a few uniforms and show up to a field once in a while hoping a game is going on.

Video Replay Review in Football

With refereeing mistakes being somewhat more evident this World Cup (after all, referees are human) video replay review have been the subject of recent discussions.

The ongoing clamour on the topic of introducing video technology in football is perhaps a more real discussion given IFAB’s recent acceptance of goal-line technology in the sport.

Respect for referees in football is

Adding Time… Is it enough?

Mid-way through the World Cup and fresh off the 2013-2014 football season in Europe, this has become a factor affecting teams more as of late. Added time.

The technical terminology for it really is “allowance for time lost”. It includes time lost through substitutions, injures and time delays. It doesn’t include when the ball leaves the field of play naturally and needs to be retrieved. To learn more, see the post here.

The focus here, however, is