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.

 

#WorldCup – Marchisio Send Off – Who thinks it’s only a yellow?

 

 

Preface – If you don’t already know, I am an Italy supporter (as well as Portugal) however, you might find my opinion in this post rather surprising and contradictory.  I am, in fact a referee first and when it comes down to FIFA Law vs. National Pride…Law always wins!

After the embarrassment of Italy’s departure from this World Cup, I had some discussions with colleagues and my parents (my father to be exact) about the severity of Marchisio’s tackle that ultimately got him sent off in their last match against Uruguay.  The discussions revolved around how everyone thought it was a soft dismissal and Marchisio should have only got a caution for his actions.  Everyone blamed Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez for causing Italy to play short for 2/3 of the match, and then not dismissing Suarez for his cannibalism against Giorgio Chiellini.  However, after watching the replays over 100 times and looking at still shots of the incident (and my father is going to kill me for this), I agree with the Mexican official and I think that Rodrigues was CORRECT in sending off Marchisio.

World Cup Game Day 5 – Portugal should have played 2 men short!!!

 

 

As I was at the cottage this weekend, and didn’t have any internet connection, I was unable to comment of match days 3 and 4 however, you would like my take on a couple of incidents please message me and I will gladly write a post or two.  Most interesting one for me was Ecuador’s goal against Switzerland…in particular the ball placement.

On to match 1 of the day…

After watching the yet another embarrassment for a top class team, and having to witness Portugal’s horrific 4 – 0 loss to Germany, I decided that I should count my lucky stars that the score line wasn’t more drastic as Portugal should have been in deeper water very early in the game.  To what am I referring?  In the 11th minute, Mario Goetze was hauled back by the arm as he bore down on the Portugal goal by João Pereira, who got a yellow card for his troubles.

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?

IDFK and DOGSO??? Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!

Whether we are watching football matches on TV or sitting in on a referee education session, most of the time when DOGSO is the topic of conversation, the clips and examples that are shown are almost always scenarios where the offending player has committed a penal offence, and where the resulting restart is either a DFK or PK.  I haven’t seen any instances or examples of a DOGSO scenario where the restart is an IDFK….until now! 

Rooney Should Have Seen Red!

I know I’m a little late on this but it’s definitely worth the talking points.

The Match:  

Sunday, November 24 – Manchester Untd v Cardiff City

The Incident:

“With just seven minutes on the clock, a race for the ball between Rooney and Jordan Mutch saw the England striker kick out at his opponent.  Luckily for United, referee Neil Swarbrick only deemed the foul a yellow card offence.” (courtesy of thescore.ie)