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. 

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…

Small Addition Needed to “Pass Back” Rule

It would be a far stretch to argue that the LOTG are 100% complete, and without gray areas or debatable topics; just look at the changes about to come into effect and what a huge Pandora’s box of protest and dissent is going to follow.  However, that’s an entirely different topic, and separate post that I will save for another day.  Alas, there are certainly some areas where the LOTG could use a little clarification and possible the odd added word or two just to make things solid and clear for all parties concerned.

One such instance is regarding a deliberate pass from a player to his own goal keeper.  In this clip, white is the defender and plays the ball to his own goal keeper.

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.

 

Pazzo Futsal LOTG

DID YOU KNOW that in Futsal, there is an instance where you can have possession of the ball, infringe the laws of the game and still be awarded an indirect free kick?  Sounds crazy?  Can’t believe it???  Well….IT’S TRUE!!!

Making the Transition to Futsal

I’ve been refereeing football (soccer) for about 15 years now and I have loved every minute of it.  The players, the coaches, the crazy parents yelling at me from the sidelines…every single aspect of the game intrigues me and makes me smile.  So, if I love “The Beautiful Game” so much, what made me tackle a different sport like Futsal?  I say different sport because although Futsal is in many ways the same as football, it is also very different.

My good friend larbitre started officiating Futsal about 3 years ago and told me about how much fun it was and how quick the games were, and that he enjoyed it so much that he started running his own league at his school.  After some discussion, it was decided that I would venture into this new territory and get certified as a Futsal referee.  Little did I know how difficult it was going to be, trying to wrap my head around some of the rules and the different approach to officiating that is required in Futsal.

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.