And he ought to know.
Okay, it’s time for a refereeing discussion.
We all saw the three biggest World Cup blunders this year, the horrible “mystery foul” in the USA/Slovenia match and the Frank Lampard “goal that wasn’t” in the England/Germany match. There was also an amazingly vicious Nigel De Jong chest kick in the final that could have killed Xabi Alonso, with only a yellow issued.
Of the three, I believe the Lampard situation is the worst of the three, because it was clear that technology could have saved that situation. The other two were just the result of shoddy refereeing. Nevertheless, things must change and they must change soon.
It’s absolutely incredible to me that a situation like Lampard’s “goal that wasn’t” is allowed to happen at the highest levels of the game. I have no earthly clue why FIFA and the big continental organizations are so incredibly opposed to the use of replay/review of so-called “goal line” technology. Now, granted, the play kept going after the goal that was not given, so in terms of how that would work, it would likely require the booth official to review the play quickly and signal the fourth official to stop play.
I’m guessing that factor is what FIFA finds so annoying. They do not want to see the referees, who are supposed to be the final arbiters on the pitch, shown up by technology. They feel the “human element” is the most important thing in the game.
I say, bull crap. I say get it right. I say, I’m tired, sick and tired, of seeing things like this happen and happen and happen. Should the German keeper have admitted the goal was good? You can discuss sportsmanship if you like, but quite frankly, it’s not up to me to decide if “fair play” should have taken over there.
The other thing is, if you remember that specific segment of that match, England had FINALLY stepped up their game a bit and had Germany on the back foot. They had just scored, and a few minutes later, Lampard cranked in that shot from distance. It would have tied the match at two each. Do I think England would have ultimately prevailed? No. I don’t. But I think it’s incredibly naive to suggest that because Germany ultimately prevailed by four goals to one that England’s second goal might not have made a real difference. The chance to get it right was not available because FIFA says it is okay with incidents like that one being completely missed by four officials. Right. Makes total sense to me.
Let’s talk about the USA/Slovenia bit for a second. Now, I know we’ve all expressed our outrage at that situation, and rightfully so. The bigger issue for me is that FIFA says that referees do not have to come out and talk about their performance, their calls and their reasoning after matches. Why? If managers get raked over the coals, if goalkeepers or outfield players have to stand up there and take questions after a horrible mistake, why not referees? No one has ever adequately explained this to me and quite frankly, the whole “his calls are his calls and that’s it” explanation is ridiculous, antiquated and insulting. Observers of this game at it’s highest levels are a bit more sophisticated now. We can see replays almost instantly. I do not want to see every offside decision challenged, ever. I don’t even really want to see foul calls reviewed instantly, which I’ll get to shortly. What I do want is accountability from EVERYONE on the pitch, not just the players and managers.
In terms of the Nigel De Jong kick on Alonso, it’s absolutely a red card offense and everyone who saw it would say the same thing. Why didn’t the referee or one of the sideline officials make the real call? I’m guessing that FIFA may have said, not in so many words, that someone would have to kill someone to get tossed from the final. Still, though, as I said, De Jong could have killed Alonso with that challenge. You may think I’m kidding or adding hyperbole, but that kick hit him dead square in the chest. If something terrible had happened, I shudder to think. The referee would have only given a yellow card, wouldn’t have to explain his decision to do so, and no review exists to do anything about it.
So what am I saying here? I’m saying, for one thing, we need video replay technology NOW to fix the goal line issues. That flagrant of a miss cannot be ignored any further. I don’t want to see video technology come into play on foul calls because there is something to be said for the sanctity of the 45 minute time frame per half. I do want to see the top level of the game insist that referees be available to the press after matches. I want to see matches, regardless of level, be it World Cup final or two local elevens on a Sunday in the park, refereed the same. A yellow is a yellow, a red is a red.
So, I want to hear your viewpoints on these issues. How do you feel about goal-line technology and replay in general? How do you feel about referees being made to explain their calls and potentially have to identify the player they called a foul on? I’m interested to find out.
We’ve got the other two QF’s in the U-19 Women’s World Cup today, the second two matches in the Barclay’s New York Challenge at 1:00 and 3:00 PM (Spurs/Sporting and City/NYRB), Man United/Kansas City at 6:00 PM and for you night owls, MLS at 11:00 PM tonight (Seattle/Colorado), with all times listed as Eastern.
Enjoy the matches today, and make sure to tell me about your current referee issues. Thanks as always for your clicks and comments, and enjoy your Sunday.
I’m in favor of video replay on goals and on fouls for serious offense. I’d rather them get it right. In baseball, I’ve seen so many god awful misses this year and it makes me ill. I’ve said it before:
Rugby has touchline video replay on tries. American football has replay on the big ones. Hockey does for goals. Why the hell can’t football get it’s shit together, eh FIFA? Not wanting to lose the human element, or not wanting to show up the refs: It’s bullshit.
You just had your premier event, a once in four years showpiece. And what is the talk after? Blown calls. In the leagues, what do we see year after year? Blown calls, granted not nearly as bad as was in this World Cup. No. Get it right so that all this talk of ‘what if’ and so on would be dead forever.
“Now, granted, the play kept going after the goal that was not given, so in terms of how that would work, it would likely require the booth official to review the play quickly and signal the fourth official to stop play.”
It’s actually easier than that. If “goal line” technology means putting sensors in the goal/ball to determine when the “whole ball is over the whole line’ (as dictated by the rules of the game) all that has to happen is this: the ball goes over the line and a red light embedded in the cross bar goes off. Goal. Done. No need to worry about play continuing or a review from “upstairs.”
As for de Jong, what’s even more amazing is that he is KNOWN for being a criminally horrible tackler*!! It’s not like he’s lil’ Andres Iniesta and it’s the World Cup and he was just trying so hard to win that he came in late on a tackle and something bad happened. He’s a “known” quantity and was such even BEFORE he broke Stuart Holden’s ankle with a horrendous tackle in…a…”friendly.”
*assuming you call the things he does “tackles.”
I don’t even care that much if the make the refs available to the public, as long as their is an accountability after the match takes place with either the local league office, or FIFA. Then they can explain as needed. “The ref said Dempsey kicked the goalie in the shin” or whatever.
Goal line tech has to come into play. The idea that they want the same conditions at every match is absurd. Not every match is a quarterfinal in the WC.
Fuse is right – if hockey can have the red light on top of the net, so can football. Goal line tech has been around long enough that I don’t think any league can claim “inaccurate” or any such related beef. FIFA needs to put their big girl panties on and deal with it.
As to having to ID the carded player, I think that could be helpful – to other teams and players. And if it’s made publicly available, there’s potential (however slight) that pressure could force some of the known repeat offenders (I refer to Fuse’s comment about de Jong) to straighten up. Hey, I did say *slight*.
I don’t necessarily think the refs need to be available for a public grilling, but they should be held accountable for their decisions and should have to explain them to the governing bodies (at the very least). Though I admit it’d be fun to watch them squirm in front of a cadre of press after a particularly heinous call.
Meh. Just my rather uneducated five cents’ worth.
That ref in the Slovenia/USA match should have had to identify publicly who he called that foul on. Period. End of discussion.
I still don’t see a foul.
The diminutive and, frankly, funny-looking Dane Richards of NYRBs is giving Citeh absolute fits! He assisted on Titi’s goal, just scored with a laser of his own, and until they took him off, was eating Wayne Bridge’s lunch every time he took the ball at him- for all I know has a date with Vanessa Perroncel after the match.
Sorry, Bridge is still in…I guess he’s just making himself scarce when Richards has the ball.
Replays is a no for me. I don’t see players getting every decision, or action, right, so why should officials.
Officials being accountable for their decisions in post-match interviews? Most definitely. I’d quite like to get them mic-ed up in the style of gridiron officials. Just for the big calls, not for player chats (although that could be illuminating)
And quite why the 4th official can’t implement a retro-active red card at full time, I don’t know.
So there.