MLS Eastern Conference Final – MTL 2nd goal was OFFSIDE!

 

The last few weeks have seen a multitude of MLS history in the making. The meeting of Montreal Impact and Toronto FC in the Easter Conference Final meant that for the first time ever, there would be a Canadian team in the MLS Cup Final!  The first leg of this historic event saw Montreal beat Toronto FC 3-2 at home, which meant that Toronto needed a win in the second leg, at home.  The Reds knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.  If Montral scored just one away goal, it would mean that TFC needed to work a little harder to get 2, and the more goals the Impact scored, the harder TFC needed to work in order to win the conference.

The second leg was a bit of a roller coaster and things were looking a little grim as Montreal opened the score line in the 24th minute.  Toronto needed 2 goals to win this series and they began to press…hard!  The light for TFC grew brighter as Armando Cooper leveled it off in the 37th minute, and Altidore bagged his first for the night in the 45th (making him the only MLS player to score a goal in every playoff match thus far).  If the score line remained this way, TFC would have won and gone through to the MLS Cup Final however, just 8 minutes into the second half, Ignacio Piatti leveled the score at 2 in the 53rd minute.  But wait…this goal should not have counted and makes this a major turning point in the match, and in my opinion makes for a Critical Match Incident and should be PRO’s next Play of the Week. 

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Rio 2016 – Massive Offside FAIL by Tonga AR

LAW 11 – OFFSIDE, probably the most difficult and controversial law of all 17 IFAB Laws of the Game.  It’s generally accepted that most people don’t know the law fully including all of its interpretations, nor would most expect everyone to know the offside law inside-out.  However, the few people on this planet one would expect to know this law, and not make such a massive error are the top, elite FIFA list Assistant Referees.  Unfortunately, the Rio 2016 quarter final between the United States and Sweden saw what I consider the biggest fail by a FIFA AR at a major tournament.  

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…

Impeding or Holding…or Does it Even Matter?

My fellow referees…first, allow me to apologize for being away for so long;  more precisely, for not posting any topics for a few months.  Things have been quite chaotic for me with football, futsal and being on the board of the director for my local referees’ association.

In case you don’t know, the UEFA Futsal Euro is currently underway (2nd leg of quarter final matches happening today) and there was one particular incident in the group stage match between Portugal and Serbia this past weekend that was particularly interesting to me and burning a hole in my head.  I knew that I had to figure it out for myself and write a post about it as I’m sure it will stir up some conversations within the referee community worldwide.

The incident took place in the last minute of the game and although this is an example for a futsal match, the same rules apply for a football match, as well.

Red #10 has possession of the ball and is attacking the White goal.  A White defender is 2 – 3 yards away, applying pressure and waiting for Red #10 to make a move.  Another Red attacker runs from behind the White defender and stands just to the right side of the defender in a blocking position, as Red #10 moves the ball to the left.  The White defender turns to follow and bumps into the Red defender, and Red #10 is able to get a shot on net.

International Referee Trio Matching

Referee crews. Ever thought you would be thinking about referees in that level of detail? Although they may not look like they need much engineering, team chemistry is as important on the field to players as it is to referees! FIFA, in the past, employed the use of mixed duos and every referee was independent of one another in terms of receiving appointments. This allowed the best performing referees and assistant referees to be paired together regardless of background and it was solely performance based.

World Cup Game Day 1 – Congrats Mr. Nishimura on a job (somewhat) well done.

Finally…the day that the world has been waiting four years to arrive is upon us!  For the past month I have been counting down the days and have been waiting with such excitement for the 2014 World Cup.  This one is a sort of special one for me…it’s being played in Brazil and for many of those people who know me well, they know that I have a special love affair with the South American country of Samba and Soccer.  Although I am of Italian and Portuguese heritage, my love for Brazil comes from my background as a musician/percussionist.  This world cup fuses both my passions as they collide into a month-long high of great football being played in the midst of great music!

In keeping with the theme of my blog, I will attempt to pick out the good, the bad and the ugly of the refereeing and decision-making throughout the tournament, and give you my own humble opinion on how I saw things.  These are only my own opinions and in way do I suggest that I am the greatest referee in the world…if I was, I would be in Brazil this month, not sitting at my computer writing this blog! 😉

So, let’s get on with it then…

DOGSO-H or Offside??? I can’t decide!

In a Bundesliga match between Hertha BSC and FC Nurnberg on February 2, 2014, a rather interesting match situation occurs and I can’t figure out what the correct decision should be.  I’ve been fighting with myself for over 3 weeks and at first I thought I knew the answer however, upon looking at the clip again, I’m starting to second guess myself.  So I ask you all…did the referee get it right in the end?

The 4 C’s for Referees

Throughout my referee career (and I use that term lightly) I have learned many lessons and have come to form an opinion about what it takes to become the best match official you can possibly be.  The obvious thing one needs to know are the LOTG of course, but knowledge of the laws does not a good referee make.  Ask any fellow referee and they will all say the same thing – “Just because you know the laws or does not mean you can referee a game…properly”.  There are many other key components to being a good referee.  Having played the game at a descent level is always a plus and will only help in your game and man management.  Watching other referee’s and picking up on the things you like, and learning from their mistakes is also a great step in the right direction.  However, over the years I have come to realize that there are 4 key components to having a successful game, and I like to call them the 4 C’s:

REPRISE: Players, Coaches and Spectators…Law 11

Back in October I wrote a post about the new interpretation to Law 11.  The original link to the explanation has since then been broken and I think I’ve figured out why…the interpretation (IMHO) was incorrect

Concentration: Plight of the AR

The Assistant Referee Is an important and integral part of the beautiful game. Their job is to assist the referee in managing the game wherever and whenever possible. However, there is one job that I would say is 99.9% that of the AR – Law 11: Offside!