tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47154949823718841492024-03-18T17:14:41.600+08:00Hong Kong RefereeRespect for Football (Soccer), Responsible Refereeing, and Rational Reflections … plus footy banterhkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.comBlogger371125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-43734416812475611622020-10-08T20:35:00.002+08:002020-10-08T20:35:46.499+08:00What’s This Badge? UEFA Match Official<p>This badge was seen on the referee of the international friendly match between Portugal and Spain on Wednesday 7 October 2020. UEFA Match Official. What is it?</p><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8upCgQm2naklki7SLszjSSshXEIjBxh1PfP2G2_IiDYu8dOGcAbHECnzv76jCGds0eGdfyAhrhSSK2uhWC6YjJFxNu-Agpm0gjdOgv27OC_qhwd-SK6epOpT_8Nis4E7gw_eIALbyfWg/s1792/C11212E0-510B-488B-A47F-500A7571607B.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1792" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8upCgQm2naklki7SLszjSSshXEIjBxh1PfP2G2_IiDYu8dOGcAbHECnzv76jCGds0eGdfyAhrhSSK2uhWC6YjJFxNu-Agpm0gjdOgv27OC_qhwd-SK6epOpT_8Nis4E7gw_eIALbyfWg/s320/C11212E0-510B-488B-A47F-500A7571607B.png" width="320" /></a></div></i><i><div><i><br /></i></div>Don’t ask me! I don’t know what this badge means either!</i><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-12606635685876298432020-01-15T09:09:00.001+08:002020-01-15T09:09:56.853+08:00Nasty Tackles and Dark ArtsThe EPL on <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7886753/Arsenal-appeal-FA-review-Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyangs-three-game-suspension.html" target="_blank">11 January 2020, in the match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace </a>this incident happened:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrHwoHtVMTutogKv8S6FlbVL5l1S1rvQhdqbewVPJtW1SkOrpMJxAMBccwInnyC3wFZKNshSVBIXht6s4lWUPgfzrob8HHAHGGIXQav-CxnCMgvQaUMx5fmMQNCZlzf3TEkcr3WrChbOX/s1600/2020JanEPL_Arsenal_CrystalPalace_Aubameyang+on+Meyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="634" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrHwoHtVMTutogKv8S6FlbVL5l1S1rvQhdqbewVPJtW1SkOrpMJxAMBccwInnyC3wFZKNshSVBIXht6s4lWUPgfzrob8HHAHGGIXQav-CxnCMgvQaUMx5fmMQNCZlzf3TEkcr3WrChbOX/s320/2020JanEPL_Arsenal_CrystalPalace_Aubameyang+on+Meyer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And on <a href="https://hkref.blogspot.com/2011/05/nasty-tackles-epl-round-36-part-1-of-2.html" target="_blank">7 May 2011, in the match between Blackpool and Tottenham Hotspur </a>this similar incident happened:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qZ2hm1VnbfGzYMikPbplgDGHW6bVdY1RRBfU_A6AhPJ0NPca-H9jHjGxeJIU8ymXPLsIFVIIOaNhktZzgtRhuJ-9qIJDLJAOLDJjQD6VwKIWY-F8WDpSpFrRB7mh_AA0egv_nOkK6Qo6/s1600/2011MayEPL_CharlieAdam+on+GarethBale.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qZ2hm1VnbfGzYMikPbplgDGHW6bVdY1RRBfU_A6AhPJ0NPca-H9jHjGxeJIU8ymXPLsIFVIIOaNhktZzgtRhuJ-9qIJDLJAOLDJjQD6VwKIWY-F8WDpSpFrRB7mh_AA0egv_nOkK6Qo6/s1600/2011MayEPL_CharlieAdam+on+GarethBale.png" /></a></div>
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In both incidents, the referees missed the serious foul plays. The difference being that in 2020, there is VAR to help with incidents that are "clearly and obviously" missed by the referee. And yet in 2020 there are still people who are attempting to downplay these incidents by <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-7886753/Arsenal-appeal-FA-review-Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyangs-three-game-suspension.html" target="_blank">appealing to the FA to reduce the standard 3-match ban for serious foul play</a>.<br />
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Football Dark Arts.<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-66214513604260029802019-05-17T01:00:00.000+08:002019-05-17T08:54:47.777+08:00Was Leeds United's second goal offside against Derby County?In the 62' a crucial goal was scored that took the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/48196167" target="_blank">Championship playoffs semifinal 2nd Leg between Leeds United and Derby County on 15 May 2019</a> to a 3–3 aggregate score. The playoffs do not have an "away goal" rule, which means the next team to score a winning goal within the normal duration of the match would triumph; otherwise the match would go into extra time and then, if the aggregate score is still tied, a penalty shootout would determine the winner.<br />
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Fortunately, it did not come to that since Derby County scored in the 85' minute and secured their place in the playoffs final against Aston Villa. The winners of that final will gain the 3rd promotion place to the English Premier League (following already-promoted Norwich City and Sheffield United).<br />
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However, imagine if Derby County had lost their match against Leeds United ... there would then probably have been a very public spat into Leeds' second goal.<br />
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Here is the incident in the 62' minute.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXyExkTzBG1Oqex1BIx5zdXAtbpAuUgWj7DMq_I787QTj0Dh37ZzzBUlNIlGXAdKJV7T_UNLva-KOK3cRwZanV4A3tTEu7SgEIpeqUjJc4iZp-mMEXNOE1S0xoDirThjjfCJuHyUscFa6/s1600/IMG_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXyExkTzBG1Oqex1BIx5zdXAtbpAuUgWj7DMq_I787QTj0Dh37ZzzBUlNIlGXAdKJV7T_UNLva-KOK3cRwZanV4A3tTEu7SgEIpeqUjJc4iZp-mMEXNOE1S0xoDirThjjfCJuHyUscFa6/s400/IMG_1913.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvmkdGQxGkGhaUaDd9n_ZSA1-QtBaYbXu8LiZecjnZK5y3HGgr_HOYUYqdMaeErKFNE6PtUl3-fDwe83Q50_y1C6EboTXDkId5rmLyrDdVJQW_vwhQOjPQ5wiy_5c-AgJ60ADfbb9RCEB/s1600/IMG_1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQvmkdGQxGkGhaUaDd9n_ZSA1-QtBaYbXu8LiZecjnZK5y3HGgr_HOYUYqdMaeErKFNE6PtUl3-fDwe83Q50_y1C6EboTXDkId5rmLyrDdVJQW_vwhQOjPQ5wiy_5c-AgJ60ADfbb9RCEB/s400/IMG_1914.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZDTTvHrFs3R31li5Rn6pFQScm-EwgJ7z7RXnwsLzYYQHKVB5MXdRJeP21Wzl3rSdqLCoOtHNlJZlePt_S1fnwy4qIQ7oUfZadscH-8zM7hM_thDKYix5E5NUwkXLkjdYZt3UnBYbuQ4a/s1600/IMG_1915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIZDTTvHrFs3R31li5Rn6pFQScm-EwgJ7z7RXnwsLzYYQHKVB5MXdRJeP21Wzl3rSdqLCoOtHNlJZlePt_S1fnwy4qIQ7oUfZadscH-8zM7hM_thDKYix5E5NUwkXLkjdYZt3UnBYbuQ4a/s400/IMG_1915.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Leed's Stuart Dallas (white 15) scores to make the aggregate score 3–3</i></div>
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Here is the view directly opposite the AR:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLn5M8lVtIyWMyjS5qytPmvyDvPqOZDTPnMEojlrfNMenneRBUx50d72mogOecyiQcDSaphjXXL5u_Cle85rv2DmNxJHsWD8ZfLLVIdmOwsa4whDyY8DtpZw1b9ALvGyETWD5bOt9zEk3_/s1600/IMG_1918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLn5M8lVtIyWMyjS5qytPmvyDvPqOZDTPnMEojlrfNMenneRBUx50d72mogOecyiQcDSaphjXXL5u_Cle85rv2DmNxJHsWD8ZfLLVIdmOwsa4whDyY8DtpZw1b9ALvGyETWD5bOt9zEk3_/s400/IMG_1918.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQdimYReSnmhDwI8TJtYHl5BSBjpQ62xt0l5kgtDcucve-VNlNXnwkAWJPZQcIEkE_yA8HYa33vDMSQPS694O6DdtadgCszRIyySCuiJ7K5X036Ir1K_lPqv-Stp_-u6-DzQMhjQg0HrM9/s1600/IMG_1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQdimYReSnmhDwI8TJtYHl5BSBjpQ62xt0l5kgtDcucve-VNlNXnwkAWJPZQcIEkE_yA8HYa33vDMSQPS694O6DdtadgCszRIyySCuiJ7K5X036Ir1K_lPqv-Stp_-u6-DzQMhjQg0HrM9/s400/IMG_1912.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This post is just to raise awareness of some difficult and/or tight decisions that ARs may experience. To emphasize again, as fellow match officials we must support others and also learn from these incidents.<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-51980371103223273932019-05-02T00:19:00.003+08:002019-05-02T00:19:52.985+08:00UEFA and VAR Must Also Take Responsiblity for Jan Vertonghen's Head InjuryThe following incident occurred in the 31st minute of the UEFA Champions League semifinal first-leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax on Tuesday 30 April 2019.<br />
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From a direct free kick, two attacking players from Tottenham (white 4 and 5) both come together with Ajax goalkeeper (blue 24). Jan Vertonghen's face (white 5) smashes into the back of Toby Alderweireld's head (white 4), leaving Vertonghen lying on the ground in an awkward position. Blood pours from a cut on his nose.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbpfTmZwbPzapK4hvrb08fI-H0binZ_VPKpgdJJrcPOE1oGgQLBgDoiY2oLNoIjjhvOz9OKmiB4ivcK1eu7XyesZkIkzC6SIt5hKMGZgxrdmuIPIMuCZXtLrlYsst9SuvrcbH9zHncKZY/s1600/IMG_1708.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbpfTmZwbPzapK4hvrb08fI-H0binZ_VPKpgdJJrcPOE1oGgQLBgDoiY2oLNoIjjhvOz9OKmiB4ivcK1eu7XyesZkIkzC6SIt5hKMGZgxrdmuIPIMuCZXtLrlYsst9SuvrcbH9zHncKZY/s400/IMG_1708.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1OEzyAMNo19GrTEiKbBLn6SIey5aBgkYAQAxXpojm-WbbiACpYAy5mSxh_BBPRSFsryFNfqGgcb0P4XoI4b6CotDxr3jIqrIkz4bualkDr6J6PqZARQzVTVMH6PsbLd3ZXRv4Yuxkxt0/s1600/IMG_1710.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL1OEzyAMNo19GrTEiKbBLn6SIey5aBgkYAQAxXpojm-WbbiACpYAy5mSxh_BBPRSFsryFNfqGgcb0P4XoI4b6CotDxr3jIqrIkz4bualkDr6J6PqZARQzVTVMH6PsbLd3ZXRv4Yuxkxt0/s400/IMG_1710.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1RRYdrgVPsLf7iz2-QkuMwAVxmnLypXW4uOBt3BgZiEcaOvRvCKtnY6QlRcolpYsFmuBZHoyYgcUolww_KusCWEcRemlDkd7TT4-j747MkB2mIeGd2LTwyC3RGb3aarHyDF97F8fTZHu/s1600/IMG_1711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg1RRYdrgVPsLf7iz2-QkuMwAVxmnLypXW4uOBt3BgZiEcaOvRvCKtnY6QlRcolpYsFmuBZHoyYgcUolww_KusCWEcRemlDkd7TT4-j747MkB2mIeGd2LTwyC3RGb3aarHyDF97F8fTZHu/s400/IMG_1711.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kmKcUwyUPkUitxtYdYkrr3ya44eVT2Mqh8a5k9Yp6_KoF9sStlIG-Hb-EGPZFzuGqhV4s8HDCLqNIyrD7l9GGgWj5cSxIUbnFomGIXN9HsjavaX60UgwfZ5wFRIS-EUh6pgUiOBpdV0t/s1600/IMG_1713.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kmKcUwyUPkUitxtYdYkrr3ya44eVT2Mqh8a5k9Yp6_KoF9sStlIG-Hb-EGPZFzuGqhV4s8HDCLqNIyrD7l9GGgWj5cSxIUbnFomGIXN9HsjavaX60UgwfZ5wFRIS-EUh6pgUiOBpdV0t/s320/IMG_1713.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GMlOFzBr8EyrLZPt7hwHWkXQwFky4YNICJZkTXNAGxpfE-5e4ZGmvcOaYIxykj7ZQjZXww4nbP-p9ILnB09iRcrcS6Sndd9FEnczFJNX2EOAac8884gd2f3LS2k2rJyAr-DWXpjNeOqg/s1600/IMG_1715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GMlOFzBr8EyrLZPt7hwHWkXQwFky4YNICJZkTXNAGxpfE-5e4ZGmvcOaYIxykj7ZQjZXww4nbP-p9ILnB09iRcrcS6Sndd9FEnczFJNX2EOAac8884gd2f3LS2k2rJyAr-DWXpjNeOqg/s320/IMG_1715.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGjefoqwIqjRxeDb6I-YBbZX0Vkf_12vBRJcHOFk1GsFvyNWj5h1RPHoF5POkALFeLaDaTc6C3pNZB__O2UeQFm66ZvdlUe1P_11_MLNr8iqAvy_jTK2eC5w1xRaiXtNgF-7wdtnnd09s/s1600/IMG_1716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGjefoqwIqjRxeDb6I-YBbZX0Vkf_12vBRJcHOFk1GsFvyNWj5h1RPHoF5POkALFeLaDaTc6C3pNZB__O2UeQFm66ZvdlUe1P_11_MLNr8iqAvy_jTK2eC5w1xRaiXtNgF-7wdtnnd09s/s320/IMG_1716.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaptYpvmLH7CSfBcHOnxhX0hjtr9PiMLI2kqNKRS8MuIFP62sVJKsLfem4SoYu446j2r4jYvtyB2xAtp9GOEsANPYAn1Yig7kPAigg1BNPj6in-iWS9W-dEsSZS-FZdHBzZgDaKMRxpwe/s1600/IMG_1717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMaptYpvmLH7CSfBcHOnxhX0hjtr9PiMLI2kqNKRS8MuIFP62sVJKsLfem4SoYu446j2r4jYvtyB2xAtp9GOEsANPYAn1Yig7kPAigg1BNPj6in-iWS9W-dEsSZS-FZdHBzZgDaKMRxpwe/s320/IMG_1717.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Question 1: At the free kick restart, is Vertonghen in an offside position?</i><br />
<i>Question 2a: Who is challenging for the ball?</i><br />
<i>Question 2b: Who is interfering with play?</i><br />
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This is a difficult incident to assess, discuss and manage because <b>first,</b> some will claim Alderweireld was onside and had every right to challenge for the ball. <b>Second,</b> others will also add that in situations where there is a mix of onside and offside players, ARs must wait to see who touches the ball.<br />
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<b>Third, </b>UEFA, as the competition organizer, plus the Head of Referees have GUIDELINES instructing ARs to KEEP THEIR FLAGS DOWN in offside situations
or tight offside situations until either a goal is scored, a penalty
kick is awarded or the ball goes out of play. The reasoning for this guideline is simple: since there is now video
technology, match officials can allow the game to flow until there is a
convenient break in the game to allow a review.<br />
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However, it is this reasoning (to allow the game to flow and to be an entertaining spectacle) where it can be argued that UEFA and the Head of Referees must take responsibility for this collision and ALL OTHER collisions where their instructions have <b>downgraded the safety of players</b>.<br />
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<b>The VAR guidelines ignore players safety</b> because, as in Vertonghen's case, an offside player is allowed to challenge and potentially collide with opposition players (and even their own teammates). Essentially, ARs who keep their flags down on offside players are permitting a potential collision between charging attacking players and onrushing defending players or goalkeepers.<br />
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The question is, are the current VAR guidelines a good thing or not?<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-23866207647828928622018-07-01T16:36:00.000+08:002018-07-03T14:31:36.820+08:00Alireza Faghani DOGSO DiscussionIn the 11' of the France versus Argentina World Cup Round of 16 match on 30 June 2018, AFC's Iranian referee Alireza Faghani whistles for a foul and points to the penalty spot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_IbSHxguUPNaEIQOSJ6N4p-7BfwIKD4po820UehdKNZEV9iISaK07RgC4q4ydmcno5zt_GNBxLEjydBHJLCY819CmF02ANNwdLxDhn7VezFllxVNC9-DTCJqwSIpmgEZ_HCuy6RdIYFg/s1600/IMG_4497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_IbSHxguUPNaEIQOSJ6N4p-7BfwIKD4po820UehdKNZEV9iISaK07RgC4q4ydmcno5zt_GNBxLEjydBHJLCY819CmF02ANNwdLxDhn7VezFllxVNC9-DTCJqwSIpmgEZ_HCuy6RdIYFg/s320/IMG_4497.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
France successfully dispatch the penalty kick and the score is 1 - 0.<br />
<br />
In the 19' minute Faghani whistles for a foul and points to the penalty spot ... <br />
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And when the YC was shown, I thought the Referee's decision was a penalty kick for DOGSO. <br />
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<br />
However, it becomes apparent that Faghani has awarded a direct free kick outside
the penalty area and not, as many people initially believed, a penalty.
The Referee is pointing to a spot outside the penalty area. To
avoid any misunderstanding he should perhaps not use this pointing
signal (which is exactly the same as the signal for pointing to the
penalty spot, which he used 8 minutes earlier) or otherwise use another
signal to indicate the location.<br />
<br />
Now, this leads on to the consideration whether this was a DOGSO incident ... <br />
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<br />
The France attacker Kylian Mbappé controls the ball and is then tripped by Nicolas Tagliafico, who is the second-last defender. This therefore meets the criteria for DOGSO. Faghani's AR did well to tell the Referee that the foul was outside the penalty area, however could the AR also have given his recommendation for DOGSO? If the unfair challenge by the second-last defender was outside the penalty area, then it should have been a RC to Tagliafico and a direct free kick to France.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, with VAR used for "clear and obvious mistakes" (specifically with Red Card incidents being one of the four main uses) why did the Referee not use (or hear recommendations from) the VAR?<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-90202027508431837532018-06-21T21:26:00.000+08:002018-06-21T21:26:07.042+08:00Remember This About Shirt Swapping?Back in June 2012, Pierluigi Collina promoted swapping shirts ... even between referees and players. It was a terrible idea then (as mentioned before) and remains a terrible idea to this day.<br />
<br />
The upshot? USA World Cup referee Mark Geiger was accused by <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5866899/Nordin-Amrabat-criticises-referee-asking-Cristiano-Ronaldos-shirt-Portugal-defeat.html" target="_blank">Morocco player Nordin Amrabat of <i>"asking for Cristiano Ronaldo's shirt"</i></a>. Obviously there are "sour grapes" because Morocco lost to Portugal and subsequently after two matches Morocco are knocked out of the World Cup.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5869667/FIFA-slam-allegations-referee-asked-Cristiano-Ronaldos-shirt.html" target="_blank">FIFA has released a strong statement that <i>"unequivocally condemns the allegations</i></a><i> [by Amrabat]"</i> and that American referee Geiger <i>"has acted in
an exemplary and professional manner."</i><br />
<br />
How ironic then that Collina, who is also chairman of the FIFA World Cup Referees, has previously promoted shirt swapping by referees. Collina himself was a collector of players' shirts during his time as a referee.<br />
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2 June 2012<br />
<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
<a href="http://hkref.blogspot.com/2012/06/not-convinced-about-collina-in-respect.html" target="_blank">Not Convinced About Collina in Respect Campaign</a></h3>
<div class="post-header">
</div>
Here's the <a href="http://www.uefa.com/uefa/socialresponsibility/respect/news/newsid=1792164.html">lead sentence from UEFA's social responsibility programme</a>: <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Swapping shirts at the end of a match is a symbol of respect between opponents."</i></blockquote>
<br />And here we see a famous Referee swapping shirts with a famous player: <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXysH3nFiZqfHsYHzbYZpJLicA_mDW2sAdkcP8a2q8mvqkVHQGdT-PUD42jXPH9zFa21SnVWZMuZAMUGzJ8WuS7GGnJDg9Fe_p5Np6SnQ4n9IVltnuY_2g3TTeJyCT__BfzA1V1pfX6Lz9/s1600/RefereeCollinaExchangeJerseyRespectCampaign" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXysH3nFiZqfHsYHzbYZpJLicA_mDW2sAdkcP8a2q8mvqkVHQGdT-PUD42jXPH9zFa21SnVWZMuZAMUGzJ8WuS7GGnJDg9Fe_p5Np6SnQ4n9IVltnuY_2g3TTeJyCT__BfzA1V1pfX6Lz9/s400/RefereeCollinaExchangeJerseyRespectCampaign" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Pierluigi Collina and Karem Benzema. Pic from UEFA.</i></span><br /> </div>
<br />
<b>Question 1:</b> <i>Does the Referee regard the player as an 'opponent'?</i><br />
<br />
<b>Question 2:</b> <i>Do Referees really exchange jerseys with players?</i><br /><br />
I am unconvinced about this latest respect campaign from UEFA.* UEFA claim that <i>"Pierluigi Collina and Karem Bezema exchange jerseys as a mark of Respect"</i>. <b>This is an incorrect and illogical claim.</b>
Also, Collina has previously admitted to not being able to give away
his Referee shirts in exchange for players' shirts because he said
Referees are never given enough shirts in the first place.<br /><br />Instead, UEFA Referees' Chief Pierluigi Collina has a reputation for collecting famous football players' shirts <u>without exchanging his own</u>
and even got Graham Poll hooked on this habit. Poll famously wrote in
his autobiography about his unabashed attempt at making sure he was
standing next to Zinedine Zidane when he blew up for full time, just so
that he could be the first to 'claim' the great Zizou's jersey. How
pathetic. <b>This makes a mockery of the integrity, credibility and
neutrality of Referees. Referees should not be seen to swap shirts with
players with whom they are officiating matches with.</b><br />
<br />
This blog admires Collina for his performance and dedication to
Refereeing. However, this blog does not agree with some of Collina's
practices such as the habit of encouraging Referees to swap shirts with
famous players that they have officiated. It is hypocritical of Collina
to promote this campaign. <b>Also, it is by definition unethical.</b><br />
<br />
<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-3465357865893497362018-04-28T12:45:00.000+08:002018-04-29T02:06:13.706+08:00Football Dark ArtsWhat are the Dark Arts in soccer? This interesting book is the first-ever collection of <b>80 negative football tricks, traps and tips</b> that are used by mischievous players, coaches and managers. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLFaWm4ELx1OVV2isom3QCEFPg3ksCPVWKnJCxVFP4JLUWf50c3MyK5IT1i4JwYFKCaYcpqaCoKpBNfT3i0Ca3LtMPw_OKJSK9OuOEicRWRlSDUB8bRE3z052p3Jqkve_dDAwzcv3EwIT/s1600/80FDA_Coverblank.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="582" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLFaWm4ELx1OVV2isom3QCEFPg3ksCPVWKnJCxVFP4JLUWf50c3MyK5IT1i4JwYFKCaYcpqaCoKpBNfT3i0Ca3LtMPw_OKJSK9OuOEicRWRlSDUB8bRE3z052p3Jqkve_dDAwzcv3EwIT/s400/80FDA_Coverblank.png" width="296" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is the book description, which is found on Amazon websites:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>How winners in football really win at football.</b> <br />
<br />
<b>Football Dark Arts</b> provides detailed knowledge about crafty, deceitful and outrageous gamesmanship that will help you and your team win matches. <br />
<br />
For the first time anywhere, <b>80 tricks, traps and tips in soccer</b>
are collected together and presented in this book. These dark arts help
give ultra-competitive managers and street-smart players a competitive
edge that prevent their opponents from performing at their optimal
level. <br />
<br />
Masters of the dark arts know how to bend the rules, to
deceive, to con, and ultimately to negatively affect their opponents.
This book highlights the ugly, unpleasant and unsporting aspects of <i>“The Beautiful Game”</i>. <br />
<br />
Whether you are a player, coach, match official, fan, commentator,
journalist, medical doctor or club director, your best option is to read
this book and understand the dark arts! <br />
<br />
Proceeds from this book will go to the Common Goal fund to support football charities around the world.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
If players, coaches and managers are using the Dark Arts to help them beat their opponents, then match officials should also be smart enough to be able to recognise and understand these negative actions. <b>This book is an <i>"eyeopener"</i> into the real world of competitive football. Highly recommended.</b><br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-82093905201699034972018-03-16T01:35:00.000+08:002018-03-16T13:23:33.321+08:00Risk of Sports Injury?At first take, who looks more likely to have a significant injury, or three, during their football career?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtrtfZ1LB2hBucU5z8MSvM0TTbUod_3ttEdq3jfc42sISAfZi7vZPtvVah5tRQAFb7r1jH0O9ZnylXx1Tocb29kn0jlokKlABmcwXCGxccCYNlxLosx4mcrq1t6pbMguYWwfvxQWZE0Xu/s1600/FernandhinoJackWilshereFeb2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="556" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtrtfZ1LB2hBucU5z8MSvM0TTbUod_3ttEdq3jfc42sISAfZi7vZPtvVah5tRQAFb7r1jH0O9ZnylXx1Tocb29kn0jlokKlABmcwXCGxccCYNlxLosx4mcrq1t6pbMguYWwfvxQWZE0Xu/s320/FernandhinoJackWilshereFeb2018.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Jack Wilshere (right) of Arsenal and Fernandinho of Manchester City battle for the ball</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Jack Wilshere is a talented professional player but his record of injuries do not bode well for this future, especially if one looks at his body mechanics (kinesthetics). Wilshere looks awkward, unbalanced and ungainly.<br />
<br />
Aesthetics plays a huge part in a professional athlete's long-term performance, sustainability and longevity. Just look at tennis legend Roger Federer, a wonderfully graceful athlete who has avoided major injuries throughout his long career while performing consistently at the highest level.<br />
<br />
Let's not forget how Alex Ferguson regards athletes too (plus he is known to have a good eye for choosing winning racehorses).<br />
<br />
Writing in his autobiography in 2013, Ferguson painted the scene in the Manchester United boardroom, prior to Jordan Henderson’s £16 million move from Sunderland to Liverpool (<a href="https://www.thisisanfield.com/2017/04/alex-ferguson-right-jordan-hendersons-running-injury-issues/">reference</a>):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>“We looked at Jordan Henderson a lot and Steve Bruce was unfailingly enthusiastic about him. Against that we noticed that Henderson runs from his knees, with a straight back, while the modern footballer runs from his hips. We thought his gait might cause him problems later in his career.”</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKZ6rGN0KTUU8m-f1eakrjeU1WC9g_uT2epzTsahp01uZulCms7L6stCfU5YOxpBpIyDc-hQNbKdNr5Ye4eeVn_B6ZghnTbqOtPlWYc-vWHJziUbBK2KFQZ49-or0gwB-lnkGztnMkIUo/s1600/JordanHenderson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="563" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAKZ6rGN0KTUU8m-f1eakrjeU1WC9g_uT2epzTsahp01uZulCms7L6stCfU5YOxpBpIyDc-hQNbKdNr5Ye4eeVn_B6ZghnTbqOtPlWYc-vWHJziUbBK2KFQZ49-or0gwB-lnkGztnMkIUo/s320/JordanHenderson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Jordan Henderson, running style</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
So, from a refereeing perspective, match officials should also pay attention to their body mechanics, running style and movement. Referees are athletes and can also benefit from understanding and improving themselves aesthetically. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Reference</b><br />
<br />
<b>Arsenal star Jack Wilshere complains about three refereeing decisions from Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City in a statement: 'These are facts' </b> (<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5437131/Arsenal-star-Jack-Wilshere-bemoans-Carabao-Cup-refereeing.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a>)<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-61241610464343571692017-11-16T16:00:00.000+08:002017-11-16T16:05:12.294+08:00Can a Referee's Name Influence His Appointment?Ben Toner. Say the name again. Ben Toner.<br />
<br />
Some people may hear the term <b>"bent owner"</b>. In English slang the meaning of "bent" is to be dishonest. A dishonest owner.<br />
<br />
This is not a reflection on the referee himself. Mr Toner merely has an unfortunate name that can be used to imply that a club owner is dishonest or corrupt. Recently, the owners of Blackpool were found guilty in the high court of "illegally stripping" the club of assets, and people have noticed this funny association.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the PGMOL decided to remove Ben Toner from the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/41867481">Blackpool vs Portmouth League One match</a> and replace him with EPL referee Jon Moss. They cited that the reason for this was NOT because of the referee's name at the match, but because the match itself had become higher profile due to the high court's verdict. In the end, the third-tier match had an attendance of 5,032 and very little media coverage.<br />
<br />
Perhaps Ben Toner should amend his name to Benjamin Toner or Benny Toner? Would that help?<br />
<br />
<b>Take home message:</b> If you are a referee and you also have a funny name, you may need to think
about changing your name. Does anyone know any funny referee names?<br />
<br />
There is a player in Hong Kong who is called "Linesman". Imagine the reaction of the match officials, when Lineman's teammates call his name!!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Reference</b><br />
<br />
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/10/referee-ben-toner-dropped-backpool-oystons<br />
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/10/referee-ben-toner-dropped-backpool-oystons">Referee Ben Toner loses Blackpool game</a> after Oystons court verdict
</h1>
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<i><span class="bullet">•</span> Jon Moss takes over at Bloomfield Road due to ‘increased attention’
<br />
<span class="bullet">•</span> Ben Toner’s name caused amusement following ruling against Oystons
</i></div>
</blockquote>
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</i></div>
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<img alt="The referee Ben Toner will take charge of a League Two match rather than Blackpool’s game at home to Portsmouth." class="maxed responsive-img" itemprop="contentUrl" src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/72791d64719d7817c95f5ee5ded6228e58fe3f05/0_100_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=4efa8d9e097cf6d78b1a843c35d5ff2e" /><div class="u-h meta__number" data-commentcount-format="content" data-discussion-closed="true" data-discussion-id="/p/7h8nz">
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<i><time class="content__dateline-wpd js-wpd content__dateline-wpd--modified" data-timestamp="1510334879000" datetime="2017-11-10T17:27:59+0000" itemprop="datePublished">Friday 10 November 2017 <span class="content__dateline-time">17.27 GMT</span> </time><time class="content__dateline-lm js-lm u-h" data-timestamp="1510344888000" datetime="2017-11-10T20:14:48+0000" itemprop="dateModified"><span class="content__dateline-time"></span>
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<br />
<i>The referee Ben Toner has been taken off Blackpool’s <a class="u-underline" data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="auto-linked-tag" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/leagueonefootball">League One</a>
match against Portsmouth, days after the majority owner, the Oystons,
were found by a high court judge to have operated an “illegitimate
stripping” of the Lancashire club.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Given the findings against the Oystons, Toner’s name had caused some
amusement on social media. However the EFL said he had been replaced by a
more senior official only because of the “increased scrutiny” on the
match at <a class="u-underline" data-component="auto-linked-tag" data-link-name="auto-linked-tag" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blackpool">Blackpool</a>.</i><br />
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</aside><i>On Monday Owen Oyston and his son Karl <a class="u-underline" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/06/oystons-blackpool-ordered-pay-shareholder-high-court-valeri-belokon" title="">were ordered by Justice Marcus Smith to pay £31m to buy out the minority shareholder Valeri Belokon</a> because of “fundamental breaches” of their duties as directors. <a class="u-underline" data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/10/blackpool-football-club-for-sale-oyston-family" title="">Yesterday they put the club up for sale</a>.</i><br />
<br />
<i>After discussions between the EFL and PGMOL, the referees’
association, it was decided Toner should be replaced by Jon Moss, one of
the elite Premier League officials. As the body that appoints all match
officials it was the PGMOL rather than the EFL which made the choice.</i><br />
<br />
<i>An EFL spokesman said: “As a result of the increased attention
surrounding this weekend’s League One fixture between Blackpool and
Portsmouth, PGMOL [Professional Game Match Officials Limited] has
determined it would be appropriate for a select group 1 referee to take
charge of proceedings at Bloomfield Road.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-3878659249278541302017-06-29T19:00:00.000+08:002017-06-29T19:53:27.580+08:00Manchester United Class of 1992 Arrive in Hong KongSeen in Hong Kong on the MTR!<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yCkkDSjT-ODrRhHE39-ywmdwMMLessvzR9eO3-kg_JnUj0G6S6Mzbg095iXc4GZnVFr0OeDU0W8bTWIt8kD9HkalgpBF0sW39yVGlNr0EyeP2EYPYLHOx4vSBHzDqpyBS_Z4AJe1JLyV/s1600/Classof1992inHK2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="497" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2yCkkDSjT-ODrRhHE39-ywmdwMMLessvzR9eO3-kg_JnUj0G6S6Mzbg095iXc4GZnVFr0OeDU0W8bTWIt8kD9HkalgpBF0sW39yVGlNr0EyeP2EYPYLHOx4vSBHzDqpyBS_Z4AJe1JLyV/s320/Classof1992inHK2017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h1>
Manchester United legends Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes,
Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt travel by metro to five-a-side in Hong Kong</h1>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
<li class=""><b>The Manchester United quintet are in Asia for a veterans five-a-side match </b></li>
<li class=""><b>They each received t-shirts with caricatures drawn on the front</b></li>
<li class=""><b>Gary Neville later shared a picture from the tallest bar in the world </b></li>
</ul>
<div class="author-section byline-plain">
By
<a class="author" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Jack+Bezants+for+MailOnline" rel="nofollow">Jack Bezants for MailOnline</a>
</div>
<div class="byline-section">
<span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-published">
<span class="article-timestamp-label">Published:</span>
10:03 BST, 29 June 2017
</span>
| <span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated">
<span class="article-timestamp-label">Updated:</span>
11:20 BST, 29 June 2017
</span><br />
</div>
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<div class="mol-para-with-font">
It has
been a long time since Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs
and Nicky Butt needed public transport to arrive at a match they were
playing in.<br />
</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
But out in Hong Kong, the quintet used the metro to head to a veterans five-a-side match.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<br />
The <a class="" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/teampages/manchester-united.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Manchester United</a>
legends may have called time on their professional playing careers but
they still pose quite the threat as a five-a-side combination.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN_XM2nGKJVySGWl6dzNOkL-SvmQ9qKxZj2Krha-5wtryXUEYXFf5hNTb1lBuaZTdzY2DT_QXNVCf-zRqAlxI5wx5staIxk1JwSsVUbR4uPk9dR6xyn-ix8oRCh1iYi4LdrEJ9iMh7hao/s1600/RyanGiggsPaulScholesNickyButtPhilandGaryNevilleHK2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsN_XM2nGKJVySGWl6dzNOkL-SvmQ9qKxZj2Krha-5wtryXUEYXFf5hNTb1lBuaZTdzY2DT_QXNVCf-zRqAlxI5wx5staIxk1JwSsVUbR4uPk9dR6xyn-ix8oRCh1iYi4LdrEJ9iMh7hao/s320/RyanGiggsPaulScholesNickyButtPhilandGaryNevilleHK2017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Phil Neville is in Hong Kong with Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and brother Gary</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2D_RAddvTmOFrsAGvkNAb0vQYAysGTIC9dbj1chosf3Jjb8jCqqIVip7E_b5UhSmQKcbIhZqIeg2lNu_AKf9ZyMeInjMfq9j0LQy4EAfodW8Nm2uaBxSSQfMBfcgV8BDoMg1pW72fRbee/s1600/MUtdSupportersHK2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="634" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2D_RAddvTmOFrsAGvkNAb0vQYAysGTIC9dbj1chosf3Jjb8jCqqIVip7E_b5UhSmQKcbIhZqIeg2lNu_AKf9ZyMeInjMfq9j0LQy4EAfodW8Nm2uaBxSSQfMBfcgV8BDoMg1pW72fRbee/s320/MUtdSupportersHK2017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="artSplitter mol-img-group">
<div class="imageCaption">
The players were given a warm welcome from the United supporters in Hong Kong<br />
</div>
</div>
<div class="artSplitter mol-img-group">
<div class="imageCaption">
The five United legends have headed to Hong Kong for a five-a-side veterans match</div>
</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
Phil
Neville shared a picture on his Instagram account of the group heading
out on their travels, captioning the image 'Road trip with these
guys!!!'<br />
</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
And he tweeted the welcome
they had, with fans lining up to catch a glimpse of their heroes donning
United attire and waving flags. </div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
And
his older brother Gary shared some pictures of t-shirts that they had
been presented with, featuring caricatures of each player on the front.</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
He seemed a little underwhelmed with his own t-shirt, writing 'not nice' alongside the post he uploaded on Instagram.<br />
</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
But
overall, he seemed to be very much enjoying his time in Asia. Neville
later published a picture of an impressive view from what he said is the
'tallest bar in the world, apparently'.<br />
</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
That
venue would be the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong hotel, where the cocktail bar
is on the 118th floor and 1,608 feet above sea level. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpESZHKWvrxEd_fmK0T1DQDMsnWMIuENaTo7NNjbz-i63RM13b0274T3Kfaql34pPJvBR2tpmk4sdCndvgMLZ93j0bvkbvuZxHpJsdgvBH3eGxox5c4fZPLwcXtcIUtPZj1NoF_cQNHF0u/s1600/RitzCarltonHKHotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="634" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpESZHKWvrxEd_fmK0T1DQDMsnWMIuENaTo7NNjbz-i63RM13b0274T3Kfaql34pPJvBR2tpmk4sdCndvgMLZ93j0bvkbvuZxHpJsdgvBH3eGxox5c4fZPLwcXtcIUtPZj1NoF_cQNHF0u/s320/RitzCarltonHKHotel.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<div class="artSplitter mol-img-group">
<br /><div class="imageCaption">
Neville also visited 'the tallest bar in the world' - the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong hotel</div>
</div>
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<div style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4650068/Manchester-United-legends-travel-metro-five-side.html#ixzz4lOIG9r1r" style="color: #003399;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4650068/Manchester-United-legends-travel-metro-five-side.html#ixzz4lOIG9r1r</a>
<br />
<br /></div>
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-21792149872189918362017-06-07T12:00:00.000+08:002017-06-07T15:50:45.751+08:00RIP Cheick TioteSad and shocking news about the death of Ivory Coast player Cheick Tiote, who passed away on Monday 5th June at the age of 30 whilst training with his club <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4577124/Cheick-Tiote-remembered-Beijing-Enterprises-fans.html">Beijing Enterprises</a> (Beijing BG FC).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMLSTNOBRfj0gfVjEepo6a2LEj8A6Am1CmmLiUTIJUlWgpxixEkAGnbYZvRXpe_YbO_5iRHQODYw7D2phPcHV7fM1t6M4juEUms5ocy_dgVYVF4D8tf702TOQDT_uf9tRJ22wdk1FsoA6/s1600/2017_Cheick_Tiote_RIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="632" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMLSTNOBRfj0gfVjEepo6a2LEj8A6Am1CmmLiUTIJUlWgpxixEkAGnbYZvRXpe_YbO_5iRHQODYw7D2phPcHV7fM1t6M4juEUms5ocy_dgVYVF4D8tf702TOQDT_uf9tRJ22wdk1FsoA6/s320/2017_Cheick_Tiote_RIP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Many <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/06/05/cheick-tiote-dies-aged-just-30-collapsing-training-chinese-super/">tributes</a> and articles have been shared about this popular and friendly man, father, husband, son, colleague and friend.<br />
<br />
One <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4574012/Cheick-Tiote-dies-age-30.html">example</a> from the Daily Mail wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Supporters could not believe how good the holding midfield player was
and he quickly became a fans' favourite, earning the nickname 'Mr T'
because of his mohawk hairstyle and no-nonsense approach. Indeed, he was
<b>booked 56 times and sent off twice [in 156 appearances for Newcastle]. </b>That, though, was part of his
popularity, the cards a byproduct of his commitment. At a club like
Newcastle, that counted for a lot among fans.</i></blockquote>
<br />
<u>From a referee's perspective</u>, Tiote was a hard no-holds-bar midfield player but also fair (giving as good as he receives, without complaining). In 2012, Mike Dean chose to talk with the then 25-year-old Newcastle player in the hope that he would listen and avoid a caution or two (see <a href="http://hkref.blogspot.hk/2012/03/mike-dean-masterclass-display-part-1.html">Mike Dean Masterclass Display</a>). Although a thoroughly nice guy off the pitch, on the pitch <a href="http://hkref.blogspot.hk/search?q=tiote">Tiote</a> was always close to getting cautions with his challenges. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://hkref.blogspot.hk/2012/03/mike-dean-masterclass-display-part-1.html">Mike Dean</a> Talks with Newcastle's Cheick Tiote</div>
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-52518981089651523662017-01-12T00:42:00.000+08:002017-01-12T00:42:25.949+08:00Friendly Matches by FIFA Put Players' Health At Risk<span style="font-size: small;">I cringe every time there is a friendly match (like a charity match, a testimonial, or high-profile celebrity kickabout) because the safety of players is usually overlooked. The recent FIFA Legends match is another example of this. Players NEVER wear SHIN GUARDS. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4103642/Diego-Maradona-s-health-risk-FIFA-Legends-matches-Zurich-headquarters.html">article below</a> makes a song-and-dance about the availability (or lack) of defibrillators, while overlooking the simple act of not wearing protective shin pads. FIFA's medical chief may criticise his organisation's lack of available defibrillators but not all stadia or sports clubs are rich enough to afford such specialized equipment. Shin guards, on the other hand (or foot!), are affordable to all players. </span><br />
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<h1>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4103642/Diego-Maradona-s-health-risk-FIFA-Legends-matches-Zurich-headquarters.html">Diego Maradona and Co's health 'put at risk' by FIFA during Legends matches at Zurich headquarters</a></span></h1>
<ul class="mol-bullets-with-font">
<li class=""><span style="font-size: small;"><b>FIFA staged Legends match at their headquarters without pitchside defibrillator</b></span></li>
<li class=""><span style="font-size: small;"><b>C</b><b>ouncil member Michel D'Hooghe was angry at lack of medical equipment</b></span></li>
<li class=""><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ex-players including Diego Maradona, Carles Puyol and Lucas Radebe took part</b></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="author-section byline-plain">
<span style="font-size: small;">By
<a class="author" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/columnist-345/Charles-Sale-for-the-Daily-Mail.html" rel="nofollow">Charles Sale for the Daily Mail</a>
</span>
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<span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-published" style="font-size: small;">
<span class="article-timestamp-label">Published:</span>
22:47 GMT, 9 January 2017
</span><span style="font-size: small;">
| <span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated">
<span class="article-timestamp-label">Updated:</span>
22:47 GMT, 9 January 2017
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">FIFA's
medical chief has slammed world football's ruling body for staging
Legends matches at their own headquarters in Zurich without a pitchside
defibrillator.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Belgium's
FIFA council member Michel D'Hooghe was visibly angry at the lack of
emergency medical equipment on the touchline for the tournament held at
FIFA House, especially considering the ages and physical shape of those
playing — notably Diego Maradona, 56, once the world's greatest player.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Along
with Maradona, the former stars taking part included Spain's Carles
Puyol and Michel Salgado, South Africa's Lucas Radebe, Argentina's
Gabriel Batistuta and Croatia's Zvonimir Boban, now FIFA deputy
secretary general.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Diego Maradona took part in a FIFA Legends match ahead of the awards ceremony in Zurich</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UpUEh2oKnq4HTssEgMko9j8-EkAs_fSPmYdcqJLxTX-pSFWD8zMz5Gpg5EQUXLogB5GqDecGxJb6SRiQh8zVGKTyRIN1AiNweZFVYVz914KoBZaSkgB4OTdw0Gm04yF03-ZLH3IMXEJ2/s1600/20170109FIFAlegendsMatchPic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9UpUEh2oKnq4HTssEgMko9j8-EkAs_fSPmYdcqJLxTX-pSFWD8zMz5Gpg5EQUXLogB5GqDecGxJb6SRiQh8zVGKTyRIN1AiNweZFVYVz914KoBZaSkgB4OTdw0Gm04yF03-ZLH3IMXEJ2/s320/20170109FIFAlegendsMatchPic2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Argentine legend played alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino and England full back Alex Scott </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">They were joined by a number of top football administrators led by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. </span></i></span><br />
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<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">Other
suits on the pitch were CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani, Brazil
football chief Fernando Sarney, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin and
America's Sunil Gulati.</span></i></span><br />
</div>
<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">There were two defibrillators, used to revive heart-attack victims, stored nearby in the offices and the gym. </span></i></span><br />
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<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">But
D'Hooghe, chairman of FIFA's medical committee, said: 'FIFA are not
setting a good example. The equipment should be ready for use beside the
pitch, not in the building. The first three minutes are the most
important in the event of the heart stopping.</span></i></span><br />
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<div class="mol-para-with-font">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-size: 1.2em;">'And this is a dangerous day, with many of the legends and the football officials not being particularly fit. It's high risk.'</span></i></span></div>
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-17903242874939896512016-05-23T08:47:00.000+08:002016-05-23T08:48:47.462+08:00Referees are Players at Heart: Mike Riley<br />
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Players at heart: Mike Riley’s love of the game keeps him focused on job</h1>
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Former English Premier League official still relishes the game and hopes to develop the standards of refereeing</div>
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<div class="node-published" content="2016-05-22T01:37:17+08:00" datetime="2016-05-22T01:37:17+08:00" itemprop="dateCreated">
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 22 May, 2016, 1:37am</div>
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<img alt="" class="lazyload-processed loaded" data-caption="Referee Mike Riley officiates a match between Down’s syndrome children during the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens on Saturday. Photos: Power Sport Images" data-enlarge="http://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/images/methode/2016/05/22/14938b42-1f79-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5_1280x720.jpg?itok=0ynWV5Z7" data-ignore="true" src="http://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2016/05/22/14938b42-1f79-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5_1280x720.jpg?itok=uTGjzQj8" data-original="http://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2016/05/22/14938b42-1f79-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5_1280x720.jpg?itok=uTGjzQj8" height="358" title="Referee Mike Riley officiates a match between Down’s syndrome children during the HKFC Citi Soccer Sevens on Saturday. Photos: Power Sport Images" width="640" />
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<a href="http://www.scmp.com/author/paul-ryding">Paul Ryding</a></div>
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If there was a referee that might have reason
to be angry about the plight of officials in the modern game that might
well be Mike Riley.</div>
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There is the constant sniping in the media, an
excruciating focus on every dubious decision they make, an abundance of
new technology leaving them open to even more criticism and a pervasive
lack of respect from highly paid players.</div>
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There aren’t too many referees who feature in
their own nine-minute YouTube video chronicling every tiny error from
one particularly criticised performance in the 2004-05 season.</div>
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The video, made up of a series of clips from the
Manchester United-Arsenal match has amassed well over 350,000 views,
and more than 650 comments, the overwhelming majority of which are
rabidly critical of him.</div>
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And yet, despite this, he maintains it was a
love of the game that started him off in refereeing and he still finds
joy in doing it today.</div>
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“I used to play. <span style="color: blue;">Ask any referee and we’re
players at heart</span>,” says Riley on the sidelines of the HKFC Soccer Sevens
yesterday, where he was delighted to referee children’s and special
needs matches.</div>
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“If we could be players we would be. Very
quickly I realised the limits of my ability as a player and refereeing
was the next best thing.”</div>
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Riley, the current general manager of the
Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), a body which is tasked
with monitoring referees and developing excellence in officiating, was
an at times divisive figure during his long top-flight refereeing
career.</div>
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He professes his love for Hong Kong and the
Soccer Sevens tournament in particular and has been a regular at Hong
Kong Football Club for eight years. In 2007 he oversaw the Hong Kong FA
Cup final.</div>
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An approachable character, a bruising career has failed to dim his enthusiasm for the game.</div>
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Perhaps most notably, he speaks in glowing terms about the respect afforded to officials by players and managers.</div>
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“I actually think that the players should be
given an awful lot of credit for the way that they conduct themselves.
And the relationships between players and referees, and referees and
managers is really first class,” said Riley.</div>
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Now 51, the mild-mannered Yorkshireman enjoyed a
20-year career in refereeing and worked his way up from being an
assistant in the football league, to a Premier League official in 2006,
before being granted the vaunted Fifa status to officiate over
international matches.</div>
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<a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image init-colorbox-processed-processed cboxElement" href="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2016/05/22/399de8aa-1f6b-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5_image_hires.jpg" rel="gallery-fa0741d4-1f4f-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5"><span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-left" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: left; width: 236px;"><img class="caption align-left c2 lazyload-processed image-float-left magic-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" src="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/236w/public/images/methode/2016/05/22/399de8aa-1f6b-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5_236x.jpg?itok=a0LP0koJ" data-original="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/236w/public/images/methode/2016/05/22/399de8aa-1f6b-11e6-9777-749fedcc73f5_236x.jpg?itok=a0LP0koJ" style="height: 354px; width: 236px;" title="Mike Riley makes a call during a match between Down’s syndrome children." /><span class="image-caption hover-processed" style="display: block;"></span></span></a></div>
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But it is a day in Cardiff back in 2002 that he considers to be the pinnacle of his career.</div>
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“As an English referee, you only ever get to referee the FA Cup final one time, so that’s a very special occasion,” said Riley.</div>
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“To walk out at the Millennium Stadium with the
ball under your arm – it was Arsenal-Chelsea and a fantastic game of
football – one of those things that you’ll always remember.”</div>
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Upon his retirement in 2009, he replaced Keith
Hackett as general manager of the PGMOB, and in that capacity, he’s keen
to develop the standards of refereeing, even if it means a greater
reliance on technology.</div>
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“Referees want decisions to be correct,” said
Riley. “The Premier League introduced goal line technology three years
ago. Last season, there were around 20 decisions when we used the
technology.</div>
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“In four or five of those, we’re talking
millimetres – did the ball cross the line or did it not – virtually
undetectable to the human eye. Now we have the answer.</div>
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“Can we extend that? Referees want to enhance
the game. We want to get the key decisions right. If you look at the
other sports that have harnessed technology it’s benefited match
officials. I’m sure it will in football.”</div>
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<b>Reference:</b> <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1950018/players-heart-mike-rileys-love-game-keeps-him-focused-job">article in SCMP.com</a><span id="goog_136310589"></span><span id="goog_136310590"></span><br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-71347945786687964342016-03-22T09:32:00.000+08:002016-03-22T09:32:35.055+08:00Referees live in fear as grass-roots game spirals out of controlThere is an article from The Telegraph highlighting <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/03/21/exclusive-referees-live-in-fear-as-grass-roots-game-spirals-out/">results from a survey of over 2,000 grass-roots referees in England</a>. There needs to be a much better and improved version of the Respect campaign.<br />
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Respect 2.0 please!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKztKDEbo_QnBONPIuEE_i04LZoQkLEWcPx3U2n1m3ji-xgaj7ORdSKYUiBuWffE9VLZAr42pYUResGO6TXS32ZlJnN991aH_7Ay4vOvKZkxCKOiiUY-9OCJ4oCcnZXyVeOSrCdzBX46V/s1600/RefereesUKabuseStatistics2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKztKDEbo_QnBONPIuEE_i04LZoQkLEWcPx3U2n1m3ji-xgaj7ORdSKYUiBuWffE9VLZAr42pYUResGO6TXS32ZlJnN991aH_7Ay4vOvKZkxCKOiiUY-9OCJ4oCcnZXyVeOSrCdzBX46V/s400/RefereesUKabuseStatistics2016.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-8033022186817008812016-03-08T17:33:00.000+08:002016-03-08T17:33:36.438+08:00Chief Football Writers Need to Learn the RulesIt was interesting to read the Telegraph's chief football writer <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/12184627/Arsenal-showed-character-to-peg-back-Tottenham-but-Leicester-were-the-real-winners.html">Sam Wallace claiming that Tottenham Hotspur's second goal</a> in the North London derby on Saturday 5th March 2016 developed from an offside incident that was never picked up by the match officials.<br />
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Wallace is wrong, as shown by this screen shot.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BJ20HyZMkpqTg5XIdoMxH6XouzET0lOqZowNXvwKxzf28uz9HTmCWXr9hHTWuApyweZetOr86A1x6YV1PjoWezFiipogRZBk-azYgftPrdsmrlPGDtjc3f9GEIEzfXrRwSh3c_FTbcxo/s1600/20160305EPL_Tottenham2_2Arsenal_SpursKane2ndGoalOnside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BJ20HyZMkpqTg5XIdoMxH6XouzET0lOqZowNXvwKxzf28uz9HTmCWXr9hHTWuApyweZetOr86A1x6YV1PjoWezFiipogRZBk-azYgftPrdsmrlPGDtjc3f9GEIEzfXrRwSh3c_FTbcxo/s400/20160305EPL_Tottenham2_2Arsenal_SpursKane2ndGoalOnside.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Arsenal defender (red) is clearly keeping Dele Alli (white) onside, which led to </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Harry Kane's sensational goal to make it 2-1</i></div>
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<br />
<br />
From the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/12184627/Arsenal-showed-character-to-peg-back-Tottenham-but-Leicester-were-the-real-winners.html">Telegraph article</a><br />
<br />
62mins<br />
<div class="card">
<div class="content">
<h2 class="title">
Kane fires hosts ahead</h2>
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<div class="media">
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<div class="content">
<div class="description">
What a finish. Harry Kane, that is
magnificent. He bends in a 25-yard shot from wide of the box all the way
around the goal and over Ospina. Absolutely incredible finish - he'll
never finish one better. Luckily for Arsene Wenger, <span style="color: blue;"><u>Dele Alli was
offside in the build-up</u></span> so he can blame that after the game, rather than
his team going into meltdown. Again.</div>
</div>
</div>
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-32533574981100705842016-03-01T23:15:00.000+08:002016-03-01T23:15:06.633+08:0016 football rules that drive us mad and must be changedBy and large, football writers who give their opinions of the game reveal their lack of knowledge for the Laws of the Game. They may mean well in wanting to help to improve the game, but they fail miserably because of their ignorance of what they understand match officials should do. <br />
<br />
This is perfectly captured by the rather mundane article "<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/12147935/The-football-rules-that-drive-us-mad-and-must-be-changed.html">16 football rules that drive us mad</a>"<br />
( <span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span> means their opinion lacks technical knowledge;<br />
<span style="background-color: magenta;"> </span> means their suggestion may actually help match officials.)<br />
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<div class="storyHead">
<h1 itemprop="headline name">
<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/12147935/The-football-rules-that-drive-us-mad-and-must-be-changed.html">16 football rules that drive us mad and must be changed</a></h1>
<h2 itemprop="alternativeHeadline description">
Some of our writers started discussing the laws of the game - and got angrier
and angrier. Here are their main gripes, and what they would change
</h2>
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<span class="gig-counter-text gig-share-counter-text gig-counter-text-right gig-share-counter-text-right" id="newGigyaShareTop-reaction0-count-value">2K</span></div>
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<span class="gig-counter-text gig-share-counter-text gig-counter-text-right gig-share-counter-text-right" id="newGigyaShareTop-reaction2-count-value">0</span></div>
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<span class="gig-counter-text gig-share-counter-text gig-counter-text-right gig-share-counter-text-right" id="newGigyaShareTop-reaction4-count-value">2K</span></div>
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<img alt="The football rules that drive us mad" height="387" itemprop="image" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03571/Rules_change_3571097b.jpg" width="620" />
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<span class="caption">We want some of the rules tweaked to make the beautiful game more beautiful</span> <span class="credit">Photo: GETTY IMAGES/FIFA</span></div>
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<div class="bylineComments">
<div>
<div class="bylineBody">
By <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/telegraph-sport/" rel="author" title="Telegraph Sport">
Telegraph Sport</a></div>
</div>
<div class="publishedDate">
10:50AM GMT 10 Feb 2016</div>
<div class="comments">
<img alt="Comments" src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/template/ver1-0/i/share/comments.gif" /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/12147935/The-football-rules-that-drive-us-mad-and-must-be-changed.html#disqus_thread">75 Comments</a>
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<div class="firstPar">
<h3 class="was-h3">
Kicking the ball out when players get injured </h3>
</div>
<div class="secondPar">
Not a rule as such, but a convention that no longer has any place in
the game. And for what’s supposed to be an act of sportsmanship, it’s
amazing how often this strange ritual never fails to generate maximum
ill-feeling. This is because there are two false assumptions
underpinning it. Firstly, that any player on the ground is in need of
treatment. </div>
<div class="thirdPar">
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="387" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03571/Injured2_3571063b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">Kicking the ball out of play for an injured player often enrages supporters</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="fourthPar">
<br />
And secondly, that the player on the ball can make an instant medical
diagnosis of an opponent lying 70 yards away. Kicking the ball out may
have had its roots in fair play and comradery, but it’s been exploited
with ruthless cynicism by divers, time-wasters and cretins. If referees
are too squeamish to stop an attack in full-flow, then <span style="background-color: yellow;">either let play
continue while players get treatment, or appoint a neutral doctor with
the authority to stop play. </span></div>
<div class="fifthPar">
<strong>Jonathan Liew </strong> </div>
<div class="body">
<h3 class="was-h3">
Handball </h3>
Honestly, nobody knows the handball rule. <br />
"He hasn't moved his hands towards the ball", "it's ball-to-hand", "it's not deliberate", they say in an offender's defence. <br />
The exact wording in the FA's rules says "A direct free kick [or
penalty] is awarded...if a player handles the ball deliberately" while
"distance between the opponent and ball" should be taken into
consideration. <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="387" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03570/daley_blind_penalt_3570977b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">Daley Blind blocks John Terry's shot with his hand. Handball?</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
But when does a player actually mean to block the ball with their hand?
When does someone knowingly and deliberately move his hand or arm
towards the ball? Unless he is Luis Suarez, the answer is very, very
rarely indeed. <br />
The excuse "his hand is in a natural position" is
also used - but what does that even mean?! Who on earth knows what a
natural position is when you're sliding in at 100 miles an hour or
jumping to head the ball. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/12145208/How-did-Chelsea-vs-Manchester-United-end-in-a-draw-and-where-would-United-be-without-David-de-Gea.html" target="_blank">Was Daley Blind's arm unnaturally positioned as John Terry struck at goal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday?</a> Who knows? <br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">A solution is hard to come by but it seems to me that a blanket
every-instance-of-hand-touching-ball might be the best answer,</span> with
destination of the ball the deciding factor. This isn't without problems
though - it may encourage attempts to deliberately flick the ball onto
an outstretched arm and will almost certainly mean even more appeals.
It's better than the mess we have at the moment, though. <br />
<strong>Alistair Tweedale</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Fouls not given in the penalty area </h3>
This is very simple really. A foul is a foul regardless of where on the
pitch it has occured. It is not the referee's job to debate whether a
penalty is too harsh a punishment for someone committing an offence
inside the 18-yard box. Yes, there are major issues with being forced to
harshly send players off in certain situations but that is a separate
debate that should not come into this equation. For the purposes of this
point the only issue should be foul = penalty. If it's a foul on the
halfway line, it's a foul in the penalty area. <span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span><br />
NB. Tim Sherwood is yet to fully grasp the concept of penalty areas... <br />
<br />
<strong>Ben Bloom </strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
The penalty </h3>
The punishment system in football is a mess: <span style="background-color: yellow;">regular fouls, even
deliberate fouls</span>, are penalised so leniently that teams use them as a
strategic ploy (“he’s taken one for the team there”). The penalty, on
the other hand, punishes <span style="background-color: yellow;">even piddling offences</span> with an almost certain
goal, based on a completely arbitrary 18-yard measurement. The penalty
rule is a relic of the days when football was a more territorial game,
and an attacker with the ball in the penalty area was very likely to
score. <br />
<br />
These days, it makes no sense, and simply encourages referees to take
the safe option. Of the first 53 fouls in the penalty area during Euro
2012, 52 were given against the attacking team. By introducing
free-kicks inside the area, you would <span style="background-color: yellow;">allow referees to punish minor
defensive offences</span> (shirt-pulling, grappling in the area, marginal
handball calls), in turn rewarding attacking football. <br />
<strong>Jonathan Liew </strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Get rid of the quadruple punishment </h3>
Building on the changes needed for the penalty rule, something must be
done about the quadruple punishment of your goalkeeper giving away a
penalty. A slight miscalculation from a keeper can mean a red card, a
penalty, a need for a substitution and a suspension. Would it be too
radical to just award a rugby style penalty goal, keep the cards in the
ref's pocket and move on? I can't see how either the attacking or
defending team could be too enraged by that outcome. If the foul is
violent and deserving of a red card in and of itself, then a red card
and a penalty goal could be awarded. <br />
<br />
Getting rid of such a harsh punishment, and this goes for professional
fouls by defenders as well, would solve the problem of referees being
wary of giving penalties that they know will also require an automatic
red card. Time and again we see officials shy away from giving a foul
that will also mean sending off a player, which is hardly surprising
when the consequences of getting the decision wrong are so severe. <span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span><br />
<strong>Charlie Eccleshare </strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Dissent </h3>
Footballers get away with absolute murder when it comes to dissent. Why
not take a leaf out of rugby's book and take a no tolerance stand to
back-chat? <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="387" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03570/Costa-lineseman_3570972b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">Diego Costa vents his spleen at a linesman</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: magenta;">"A player who is guilty of dissent by protesting (verbally or non-verbally) against a referee’s decision must be cautioned." </span><br />
<br />
So when Diego Costa squares up to a linesman or Joe Hart pushes his
head into Michael Oliver's face, it should be (at least) a yellow card.
Footballers might become nicer people and it could encourage others to
become referees. <br />
<strong>Alistair Tweedale </strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
The unwanted advantage </h3>
There are few things more infuriating than when your team sees a player
fouled while defending a lead and are grateful to have the free-kick,
but the ball rolls to a team-mate, who is surrounded by opposition
players, and the ref screams "play on, advantage". <br />
This is not
an advantage. Clearly what the defending team wants is a free-kick,
especially when they then find themselves in danger of being instantly
dispossessed. It would be one thing if the player could hack the ball
away, and effectively accept the free-kick for his team, but if he tried
this tactic invariably the ref would say he had the ball and therefore
an advantage that he had has now passed. It's also not an advantage to
not be awarded a free-kick plum in front of goal but instead have a
player quickly hustled off the ball on the edge of the box. <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="371" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03571/Advantage_3571124b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">A referee plays an advantage</span></span></span></span><br />
We often see refs refuse to play advantages when they should, but this reverse advantage is equally as damaging. <br />
<br />
While on the topic, it would be worth experimenting with a longer
advantage rule, like in rugby. This would encourage referees to play
more advantages, without being worried that the team he's given the
advantage to is about to lose possession. <span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span> <br />
<strong>Charlie Eccleshare</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Encroachment on penalties </h3>
The rules state: "the referee must check that the players other than
the [penalty] kicker are located: Inside the field of play [and] Outside
the penalty area." <br />
If it's a rule, enforce it. It's not hard to
police as it only happens at penalties which start with everyone
standing still, and yet often players are not punished for entering the
area before a penalty is taken. <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="402" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03570/encroachment_3570962b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">The Fifa website is very clear on this</span><span class="credit"> Photo: FIFA</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
The solution? If an attacker enters the box before the penalty is
struck and it is scored or he gains an advantage at a rebound, retake
it. If a defender enters the box before the penalty is struck and it is
missed, retake it. <br />
<strong>Alistair Tweedale</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Foul throws </h3>
Anyone who has played Sunday League football is unlikely to have ever
completed 90 minutes without a member of the opposition piping up 50
yards away from the action with a strangled cry of: "Foul throw ref!"
You see, the rules in amateur football are simple: A player is allowed
only to launch a throw-in long down the line. Any attempt to go short,
throw the ball to feet or in any way promote anything other than lumped,
long-ball football is to be immediately pulled up for a foul throw
under the rule that "It didn't really look right". <br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">Oddly, the
professional game appears to adhere to a completely different
interpretation of the rule, namely that anything goes.</span> And by anything I
mean ANYTHING. At which point it seems right to bring in Patrice Evra: <br />
<br />
Really this is all a load of unnecessary nonsense isn't it? The benefit
to be gained from one angle of release compared to another is
negligible at best and there is a simple solution: Everyone should just
chill out. Of course that isn't a rule that can be formally implemented
so instead let's propose a new simplified regulation that states: "The
thrower must deliver the ball with two hands from behind their head". As
long as the two hands start from behind the head it should make no
difference at what point the ball is released. It can be released behind
the head, over the head or in front of the head. <span style="background-color: yellow;">IT DOESN'T MATTER. </span>
Just let the ball re-enter the field and allow play to continue. <br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/4GwuhMwYyis">As long as you don't do what Evra did.</a> That should literally never be allowed. <br />
<strong>Ben Bloom</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Goalkeepers coming off their line at penalties </h3>
It's less the act itself that is so frustrating and more the seeming
total inability of linesmen to pick goalkeepers up for it. At the point
the penalty taker's boot connects with the ball, regulations state that
the keeper must be on his line. If he has encroached in any way then the
penalty will be retaken (unless it has been scored, in which case the
goal stands). In reality the goalkeeper will come off his line
approximately 99 per cent of the time and be penalised for the offence
approximately two per cent of the time (those statistics may or may not
be totally accurate). <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="402" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03570/goalkeeper-line-pe_3570963b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">The Fifa website is also very clear on this</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
The assistant referee positions himself on the goal line with the sole
purpose of watching the keeper. Where goal-time technology is in use, he
literally has nothing else to do aside from watching the keeper. Just
watch the keeper. Watch him step off his line and raise your flag. It's
simple. Stop allowing goalkeepers to cheat. <br />
<strong>Ben Bloom</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Players getting booked for taking their shirt off </h3>
Tempting as it is to sigh at a goalscorer for removing their shirt when
an automatic yellow card (and shrug of the referee's shoulders)
inevitably follows, it's hard to fathom exactly what this clause of Law
12 is trying to achieve. Even less understandable is the mandatory
caution for any goalscorer whose celebration takes them into the crowd -
as if any visible blurring of the boundaries between star players and
humble supporters could possibly be tolerated in the modern game. <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="387" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03571/Ribery2_3571080b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">This is admittedly a terrifying sight</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: yellow;">Law 12 does allow for referees to apply "common sense" to goal
celebrations</span> but, with the dreaded assessor sat in the stands looking
for cold-blooded consistency, there seems little opportunity for
football to throw caution to the wind when it comes to unbridled
goalscoring joy. <br />
<strong>Adam Hurrey</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Defender holding off forward as ball trickles out </h3>
Back passes, tackling from behind - these have been addressed down the
years by law-makers as they encourage attacking football. But there is
one ugly, glaring exception. How many times do we see a defender
blocking a forward while making no attempt to play the ball as it
trickles out of touch for a goal-kick or throw-in? <br />
<br />
An exciting, attacking possibility fizzles out in a moment of undiluted
negativity. It could be described as an art, of sorts, but in reality
has nothing to do with the skill of football. The remedy? <span style="background-color: yellow;">Revive and
enforce the old obstruction law. Any player who refuses to play the ball</span>
while impeding an opponent should have a free-kick awarded against him.
And make it a yellow card for a second offence. <br />
<strong>Ben Findon</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Players wasting time </h3>
This is an offence that gets me irrationally angry, partly because
there seems to be such an easy deterrent. If a goalkeeper or defender
continues to waste time, book them. A referee can then say to the
offender, “keep doing that and I’ll send you off.” Instead what happens
is referees allow players to time waste until the very last minute, and
then decide to book them, by which point the yellow card is entirely
useless. <br />
<br />
Referees should also crack down on players taking an age to leave the
pitch when being substituted. Again, all it would take is a quiet word
with the player telling him to hurry up or be booked. The deterrent to
time wasting exists, please can referees start using it. <span style="background-color: yellow;"> </span><br />
<strong>Charlie Eccleshare</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Time for substitutions not being added on </h3>
Injury time is always stated as "a minimum", yet <span style="background-color: yellow;">it is hardly ever
extended beyond the minimum; it is almost always exactly that amount. </span>A
favoured time-wasting tactic for managers is to wait until stoppage time
to make a pointless substitution because it isn't seen as time wasting
and usually doesn't result in more time added on. Such a substitution
can waste as much as a minute of crucial late play. <br />
<br />
The clock should be stopped when the ball is out of play during injury
time - like in rugby. Play the exact number of allotted minutes, to the
second, unless a team is on the attack. <span style="background-color: magenta;">Once that attack ends, blow the
final whistle. </span><br />
<strong>Alistair Tweedale</strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Who decided technical areas were a good idea? </h3>
All they do is provide a job for the fourth official, obliging him to
tell managers earning up to £7m a year to stand inside a white dotted
box. <br />
It also lessens the chance of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/picturegalleries/11870529/Jose-Mourinho-vs-Arsene-Wenger-and-the-greatest-managerial-feuds.html" target="_blank">a Jose Mourinho/Arsene Wenger style incident</a>, and who doesn't want to see more of that? <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="387" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03554/mourinhogetty_3554793b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">Let's be honest, we all found this hilarious</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: magenta;">Get rid of them.</span> Or, if they are to stay, make managers share one during the last 10 minutes of games. <br />
<strong>Julian Bennetts </strong> <br />
<h3 class="was-h3">
Six second rule </h3>
Often the gripe of Sunday League footballers the country over, the six second rule is rarely enforced as we know it. <br />
Interestingly, however, the six seconds only starts once the goalkeeper
is in control of the ball and able to start looking to release it back
into play, which is up to the referee's interpretation. <br />
<span class="ssImg "><img alt="" height="387" src="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03571/Goalkeepers_3571085b.jpg" width="620" /><span class="artImageExtras" style="max-width: 620px;"><span class="ingCaptionCredit"><span class="caption">'Six seconds ref' will have been screamed by someone shortly before this kick</span></span></span></span><br />
The six seconds should be enforced more stringently but given the
ruling it is rare for keepers to hold onto the ball that long. <br />
<span style="background-color: magenta;">The answer to this one is to stop letting it wind us up so much. </span><br />
<strong>Alistair Tweedale</strong> </div>
<br />
<br />
<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-34786356488447399902015-08-19T15:51:00.001+08:002015-08-19T15:51:50.660+08:00Referee Correct to Disallow Goal by BournemouthMuch has been said about the injustice, and the appearance of injustice, to Bournemouth in their <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33843979">match against Liverpool on Monday 17th August 2015.</a> However, the injustice of Christian Benteke's winning goal—which should have been called offside and wasn't—does not mean that there was also an injustice to Tommy Elphick's goal, which referee Craig Pawson correctly disallowed.<br />
<br />
The media and Bournemouth wrongly believe that Bournemouth had two major decisions go against them ... when in fact it was only one.<br />
<br />
Here are the freeze frames of the Cherries' disallowed goal:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloVbHmno0eeTId8aLwzBns_NXsr5dJSE2Ow1kliW0HOz6p8KRnaJ0JuZ1wI38uRdGvtEuK4rVuf6SrT7pgq8hWNe-Anl6qy04wN0rHgTDeXkfRCp9rtYmJVeqN4kmU6LmLVBZpZxPRWLY/s1600/20150817LiverpoolBournemouthElphickDisallowedGoal1PicSkySports.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloVbHmno0eeTId8aLwzBns_NXsr5dJSE2Ow1kliW0HOz6p8KRnaJ0JuZ1wI38uRdGvtEuK4rVuf6SrT7pgq8hWNe-Anl6qy04wN0rHgTDeXkfRCp9rtYmJVeqN4kmU6LmLVBZpZxPRWLY/s320/20150817LiverpoolBournemouthElphickDisallowedGoal1PicSkySports.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Bournemouth's Tommy Elphick (black 5) fouls Liverpool's Dejan Lovren (red 6) to head the ball</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVk2ngWk6YbrVnowgz8jVOGEIZb0dQat2RU0usR0TQ4ogpc5FojlvoZK-mQww9uxecl_KUY3UkIKy7Oq6YNhNgsxHGgc1ROboUSh-J0F2NAwuQ4kvv0zt4vWf_1kMWqARnBCLfhjvFJ_uA/s1600/20150817LiverpoolBournemouthElphickDisallowedGoal2PicSkySports.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVk2ngWk6YbrVnowgz8jVOGEIZb0dQat2RU0usR0TQ4ogpc5FojlvoZK-mQww9uxecl_KUY3UkIKy7Oq6YNhNgsxHGgc1ROboUSh-J0F2NAwuQ4kvv0zt4vWf_1kMWqARnBCLfhjvFJ_uA/s320/20150817LiverpoolBournemouthElphickDisallowedGoal2PicSkySports.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Elphick clearly does not believe he did anything wrong as he headed the ball into the Liverpool net in the 11th minute, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/live/football/33514016">saying</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"It is really frustrating. I wouldn't like to be doing the referee's job. I got up ahead of him (Dejan Lovren), obviously you have to use your arms as leverage." </i></blockquote>
Is it obvious that players have to use their arms as leverage? No!<br />
<br />
Referees know that if a player uses his arms against an opponent to prevent him from jumping, then it is an offence. Elphick effectively pushed his opponent down, which is a foul.<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-70143721657604070692015-08-14T12:39:00.000+08:002015-08-14T12:41:03.906+08:00Are ex-Referee Graham Poll's Views Relevant Anymore?With the start of the 2015-16 EPL season referee Michael Oliver, who officiated <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33744668">Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Swansea</a>, demonstrated why he is possibly the best referee currently in the premiership. Ex-EPL referee Graham Poll praised Oliver but then said something that seriously jarred against modern-day refereeing principles.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkFe8GkKGpJ7CduGEXmAqdYDf3gSJYRJc84y2Wz5s6P8AAAMuh-Y8t17zH-HlrqB7RxJxMwxQCaYkzN4APFoAvlsK3AJljPNPTmGJzGWKjSX7EfQ61GRCN7LzqixYAk8mWc8r4VYDUtSr/s1600/MichaelOliverRedCardChelseaCourtoisDOGSOPicAP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXkFe8GkKGpJ7CduGEXmAqdYDf3gSJYRJc84y2Wz5s6P8AAAMuh-Y8t17zH-HlrqB7RxJxMwxQCaYkzN4APFoAvlsK3AJljPNPTmGJzGWKjSX7EfQ61GRCN7LzqixYAk8mWc8r4VYDUtSr/s320/MichaelOliverRedCardChelseaCourtoisDOGSOPicAP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Referee Michael Oliver sends off Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois for DOGSO. Pic AP.</i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
In his column Poll said: <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3191122/Michael-Oliver-right-award-Swansea-penalty-against-Chelsea-Thibaut-Courtois-did-not-deserve-straight-red-card.html">"Michael Oliver was right to award Swansea a penalty against Chelsea... but Thibaut Courtois did not deserve a straight red card"</a>.<br />
He based his reasoning by insisting that "For DOGSO, the ball must be heading towards goal and, as replays show, it was not." <br />
<br />
This is a very traditional, rigid and non-progressive take on DOGSO and I do not know of any referee instructors who still stick to this, especially at the highest levels. The problem is perhaps because Graham Poll no longer teaches in refereeing circles, and therefore is no longer up to date with the best current refereeing practices. Therefore, are Poll's views about referees relevant anymore?<br />
<br />
Thankfully, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3193873/Thibaut-Courtois-suspended-Chelsea-s-trip-Manchester-City-FA-reject-appeal-against-Swansea-red-card.html">FA review panel rejected Chelsea's ill-advised and frivolous appeal</a> against Courtois' red card and upheld the one-match ban.<br />
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-87971452109709682312015-05-28T10:08:00.001+08:002015-05-28T10:08:27.629+08:00Whose Blunder Is It Anyway? Media reports have accused a Chinese goalkeeper of making a serious mistake. Sui Weijie's club Lifan has also <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/26/goalkeeper-fined-sipping-water-opponents-scored-chongqing-lifan-sui-weijie">fined him 50,000 yuan</a> (about US$8,000) and faces a suspension. However, a bigger mistake was made by the match officials<b> ... what was it?</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoq0RDuOb9vOqW0wuLlHH2Ik_J1oTQTkLJrMYrnMBZvq-OUL8pb9en9yYrYCd1xgJ7878FQm7Mjvh71Cikip7-q-2GcahUFpgp6WKxtgfvjA4nYvDT4SpKlZz_9iQG_oRqF0O09UTh3pqe/s1600/20150524CSL_GKdriningWater_QuickFreeKick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoq0RDuOb9vOqW0wuLlHH2Ik_J1oTQTkLJrMYrnMBZvq-OUL8pb9en9yYrYCd1xgJ7878FQm7Mjvh71Cikip7-q-2GcahUFpgp6WKxtgfvjA4nYvDT4SpKlZz_9iQG_oRqF0O09UTh3pqe/s400/20150524CSL_GKdriningWater_QuickFreeKick.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Liaoning players (red) take a quick free kick against Lifan (white) in the Chinese Super League</i></span></div>
<br />
You can see the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxovQhHtZec">video here</a> (or watch below)<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BxovQhHtZec" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<br />
<b>Reference</b><br />
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<a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/1809079/former-happy-valley-keeper-costs-teammates-600000-yuan-after-conceding"><span style="font-size: large;">Former Happy Valley keeper costs teammates 600,000 yuan after conceding goal while taking a drink in China</span></a></h1>
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<div class="node-published" content="2015-05-26T17:10:26+08:00" datetime="2015-05-26T17:10:26+08:00" itemprop="dateCreated">
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 26 May, 2015</div>
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<a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed-processed cboxElement" href="http://cdn4.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/05/26/scmp_12mar06_sp_soccer5.jpg_rcwk6397.jpg?itok=S-SLdazU" rel="gallery-[field_images-1809079]" title="Sui Weijie in action for Happy Valley. Photo: SCMP"><img alt="Sui Weijie in action for Happy Valley. Photo: SCMP" class="lazyload-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/05/26/scmp_12mar06_sp_soccer5.jpg_rcwk6397.jpg?itok=-dVXyjtE" height="248" src="http://cdn3.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/05/26/scmp_12mar06_sp_soccer5.jpg_rcwk6397.jpg?itok=-dVXyjtE" title="Sui Weijie in action for Happy Valley. Photo: SCMP" width="400" /></a> </li>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Sui Weijie in action for Happy Valley. Photo: SCMP</i></span></div>
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<br />
Quenching
his thirst while on duty proved costly for Chongqing Lifan goalkeeper
Sui Weijie, who has been fined for sipping water as their opponents
equalised in a Chinese Super League match.<br />
<div class="tt-wrapper inread " id="tt-wrapperdcae5e9" style="backface-visibility: hidden; height: auto; left: auto; margin: 0px 5px 5px; max-width: 100%; min-width: 230px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; text-align: center; transform: translateZ(0px); transition: all 0.3s cubic-bezier(0.65, 0.52, 0.73, 0.43) 0s;">
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Relegation-threatened Lifan were leading 1-0 seven minutes
from time in Sunday’s match when hosts Liaoning took a quick free-kick
and midfielder Ding Haifeng darted past a group of static defenders
before slotting the ball into an empty net, with Sui stood motionless
drinking next to the goal post.<br />
<br />
Lifan have since slapped Sui with a 50,000 yuan fine and he faces suspension.<br />
<br />
<strong>Alternative angle</strong><br />
<br />
"I made a terrible mistake in Sunday’s game and let go a
full three points," Sui, who was confronted by Lifan supporters at
Liaoning’s Shenyang Airport on Monday, was quoted as saying.<br />
<br />
"I won’t repeat the same mistake and will never lose concentration."<br />
<br />
And Sui is unlikely to be a popular man in the dressing room
- management had promised players a 1 million yuan bonus for a win,
which was reduced to 400,000 since they only drew.<br />
<br />
Sui was questioned by the ICAC in 2010 while playing in Hong
Kong for <a href="http://hkref.blogspot.com/2010/08/life-ban-for-player-found-guilty-of.html">Happy Valley in a match-fixing scandal</a>, but never charged. </blockquote>
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<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-35920589323797382322015-05-18T11:33:00.000+08:002015-05-18T11:33:27.425+08:00Rational Ref: Colourful shirts undermine a match official's authority, or do they?<div class="panel-pane pane-node-title pos-3">
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Colourful shirts undermine a match official's authority, or do they?</h1>
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Colourful shirts undermine a match official's authority, or do they?<br />
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<i> Australia's NRL referees will no longer wear pink jerseys. Photo: Getty Images</i></div>
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<i><a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed-processed cboxElement" href="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/03/12/refblack.jpg?itok=twPdf0Ej" rel="gallery-[field_images-1736136]" title="Referee Anthony Taylor sends off West Brom's Claudio Jacob. Colour psycghology suggests black shirts command discipline. Photo: Reuters "><img alt="Referee Anthony Taylor sends off West Brom's Claudio Jacob. Colour psycghology suggests black shirts command discipline. Photo: Reuters " class="lazyload-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/03/12/refblack.jpg?itok=PsBZyAAa" height="302" src="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/03/12/refblack.jpg?itok=PsBZyAAa" title="Referee Anthony Taylor sends off West Brom's Claudio Jacob. Colour psycghology suggests black shirts command discipline. Photo: Reuters " width="486" /></a></i> </li>
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<i>Referee
Anthony Taylor sends off West Brom's Claudio Jacob. Colour psycghology
suggests black shirts command discipline. Photo: Reuters </i></div>
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The
term <b>"Men in Black"</b> is more likely to conjure up images of Will Smith
blasting aliens into outer space rather than referees carding players
off the soccer pitch. That's because the game's leading law enforcers
are mostly kitted out in lemon yellow, lipstick red, sherbet blue and
even fuchsia pink.<br />
<br />
Over in the rugby world, Australia's NRL referees have ditched their
colourful shirts claiming their "Pretty In Pink" tops undermine their
authority. Even though rugby referees command far better respect from
players, there could be some truth to their feelings of insecurity based
on the colour of their shirts.<br />
<br />
Rugby referees will now wear dark blue or black uniforms that,
according to Tom Heenan from the National Centre for Australian Studies,
are more likely to encourage discipline.<br />
<br />
"One of the arguments is a stronger colour denotes a more disciplined
culture, so therefore a navy blue would promote more discipline than a
pink," Heenan said.<br />
<br />
But psychologist Chris Pomfret of Condor Performance said there was
no evidence the colour of a referee's uniform made any difference to how
he was perceived. "I'm not aware of any evidence the colour pink would make any
difference to how an official is perceived by the people they are
officiating over, the crowd, coaches or any other observers," said
Pomfret.<br />
<br />
He said by agreeing to scrap the pink jersey this suggested the NRL
was too concerned with what players, coaches and supporters thought of
referees.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><img alt="" class="image-486w caption lazyload-processed magic-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/12/speroni.jpg?itok=zL92Qz1q" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/12/speroni.jpg?itok=zL92Qz1q" style="height: 309px; width: 486px;" title="Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez (right) tries to place the ball past Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni. Keepers who wear bright shirts increase their chances of putting off opponents. Photo: EPA " /><i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Arsenal's
Alexis Sanchez (right) tries to place the ball past Crystal Palace
goalkeeper Julian Speroni. Keepers who wear bright shirts increase their
chances of putting off opponents. Photo: EPA </span></i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;"> </span></span></div>
"The colour of a uniform is irrelevant to the skill execution of
referees, just the same as the colour of a jersey worn by players is
irrelevant to their skill execution," he said. "In short, the colour of a
uniform shouldn't matter as it doesn't directly impact on the
performance of a referee, which ultimately has the most influence on
their perceived credibility."<br />
<br />
<b>Scientific evidence suggests otherwise.</b> Rugby referees are on to
something and soccer referees can benefit from this kind of knowledge,
too.<br />
<br />
The science of colour psychology reveals that goalkeepers who wear
bright flamboyant shirts may be better off than those wearing boring
duller tops.<br />
<br />
By heightening their opponents' perception levels, goalkeepers make
themselves appear bigger than they really are. Goalkeepers wearing
outlandish kits thus increase their chances of putting off their
opponents who have only a split second to squeeze the ball past them and
into the goal.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><i><img alt="" class="image-486w caption lazyload-processed magic-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/12/liverpool.jpg?itok=dimO8Alb" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/12/liverpool.jpg?itok=dimO8Alb" style="height: 324px; width: 486px;" title="Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge (left) controls the ball as Blackburn's Adam Henley looks on. Photo: AP" /><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge (left) controls the ball as Blackburn's Adam Henley looks on. Photo: AP</span></i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;"> </span></span></div>
There is another a study that showed teams taking penalty kicks
performed worst when the winning team's goalkeeper wore red, which
appears to be a powerful colour for players.<br />
<br />
In England, records since the second world war reveal teams wearing
red have averaged higher league positions and have won more league
championships than teams wearing other colours.<br />
Also in cities with more than one team, the teams wearing red
outperformed their rivals wearing other colours. Manchester United and
Liverpool spring immediately to mind. In Hong Kong, South China are the
most successful local club side ever.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><i><img alt="" class="image-486w caption lazyload-processed magic-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/12/southchina.jpg?itok=nuzoEF3l" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/12/southchina.jpg?itok=nuzoEF3l" style="height: 341px; width: 486px;" title="New York Cosmos' forward Raul Gonzalez (centre) vies with South China Football Club's Chak Ting-fung and Bojan Malisic during the Lunar New Year Cup. Photo: EPA" /><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">New
York Cosmos' forward Raul Gonzalez (centre) vies with South China
Football Club's Chak Ting-fung and Bojan Malisic during the Lunar New
Year Cup. Photo: EPA</span></i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;"> </span></span></div>
In 1996, Alex Ferguson famously changed his team's grey away kit at
half-time following a humiliating 3-0 onslaught by Southampton. Wearing
blue in the second half, they lost 3-1. Of five games ever played in
their grey kit, United lost four and drew one.<br />
<br />
Would the public (and criminals) take police and prison guards
seriously if their uniforms were bright pink or fluorescent green? Of
course not.<br />
<br />
Referees should be known again as the Men in Black. Instead of
referees having to change their shirt colours due to kit clashes with
teams, organisers should insist all teams including their keepers do not
wear black kits. Ultimately, whatever colour they wear, referees in the
modern era still need all the help they can get to become more
commanding and effective on the pitch.<br />
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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/1736136/colourful-shirts-undermine-match-officials-authority-or-do-they">It is time for the return of the Men in Black</a></div>
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PUBLISHED : Thursday, 12 March, 2015<br />
<br />
UPDATE: <a href="http://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/1800032/man-dressed-red-perceived-being-more-aggressive-study-finds">Men dressed in red perceived as being more aggressive, study finds </a>hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-89114698879492795552015-05-10T20:22:00.000+08:002015-05-10T20:26:08.774+08:00Rational Ref: Chelsea's masters of the dark arts highlight a win-at-all-costs mentality<div class="panel-pane pane-node-title pos-3">
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In
sport what is more important: playing the game or playing games?
Nowhere else but in soccer is this distinction more apparent, with
plenty of cheating and gamesmanship instead of genuine sportsmanship and
model behaviour.<br />
<br />
Chelsea's siege on Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers during their Champions
League exit to Paris Saint-Germain last week comes as no huge surprise.
It is simply the logical consequence of the ugly, unethical and
underhanded approach that has been allowed to fester and flourish to
alarming levels.<br />
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The dark arts—comprising cheating, provocation, intimidation,
faking injury and childish behaviour—is now so endemic it is
considered the main source of entertainment, with media reports barely
touching on the final score and team performances.<br />
<br />
In one camp, John Terry, Jose Mourinho, Gary Neville and others
believe the dark arts are entirely acceptable, whereas the likes of
Graeme Souness, Jamie Carragher and most referees prefer a cleaner,
honest and straightforward approach. Spectators will probably support
whichever camp so long as it benefits their favourite team.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><img alt="" class="image-486w caption lazyload-processed magic-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/19/topshots-fbl-eur-c1-chelsea-psg_3513.jpg?itok=BPfplfdd" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/19/topshots-fbl-eur-c1-chelsea-psg_3513.jpg?itok=BPfplfdd" style="height: 315px; width: 486px;" title="Zlatan Ibrahimovic gestures to the referee after a tackle on Chelsea midfielder Oscar, who appeared badly hurt, but was on his feet moments after a red card was issued. Photo: AFP" /><i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Zlatan
Ibrahimovic gestures to the referee after a tackle on Chelsea
midfielder Oscar, who appeared badly hurt, but was on his feet moments
after a red card was issued. Photo: AFP</span></i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;"> </span><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;"> </span><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Chelsea captain Terry defended his hounding of referees, saying: "Every other side is as bad as each other."<br />
<br />
"It's part of the
game. Once they're charging the ref, the only thing we can do is
respond. You can't as a group of players let them surround the ref,
trying to get our players booked. Once I go [to influence the referee],
four or five go with me. It doesn't look good, but that's part of the
game."<br />
<br />
Mourinho, obviously, backs his captain since he instils this kind of
attitude in all the teams he has coached. As a manager, he upholds his
reputation as the master of dark arts, with eye gouging a particular
speciality.<br />
<br />
In contrast, Souness labelled Chelsea players "pathetic" for their
antics. Souness, who cemented his reputation at Liverpool as a tough but
honest player, harks back to the old-fashioned era when sportsmanship
and camaraderie took priority over rivalry and winning at all costs.<br />
<br />
However, in the modern era of professional athletes and ludicrous salaries, the game's values have become ridiculously warped.<br />
<br />
When Oscar was apparently seriously injured in his clash with Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, notice how none of the Chelsea players showed any genuine
concern to the well-being of their Brazilian teammate.<br />
<br />
Not one of them went to see how Oscar was because they were all
focused on pressuring the referee. Oscar was exaggerating the
seriousness of his injury and as soon as Ibrahimovic was sent off, he
was back on his feet as if nothing had happened.<br />
<br />
Suppose you and a friend are involved in a car crash with another
driver, what would be the natural reaction? Would you be jumping and
screaming at the traffic policeman to reprimand the driver causing the
accident or would you be more concerned about your friend?<br />
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><img alt="" class="image-486w caption lazyload-processed magic-processed loaded" data-ignore="true" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/19/britain_soccer_champions_league_th187.jpg?itok=WjBgscCn" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/03/19/britain_soccer_champions_league_th187.jpg?itok=WjBgscCn" style="height: 327px; width: 486px;" title="Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, a 'master of the dark arts'? Photo: AP" /><i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, a 'master of the dark arts'? Photo: AP</span></i></span><br />
<br />
Chelsea's
behaviour reveals the sad, twisted values that have taken over the
game, where gaining a favourable decision is more important than the
safety of teammates and fellow professionals.<br />
<br />
In a match I refereed recently, two players jumped up for the ball
and collided in a fair challenge, with one player apparently coming off
worse for wear. Because he screamed loudly and made a big fuss about having an injury
to his face, I whistled to stop play so he could be checked.<br />
<br />
When I told him there was no foul, he became even more animated and miraculously forgot about his so-called "injury".<br />
<br />
As a referee, I was more concerned about his safety. However, this
player was all about getting a free kick for himself and a card for his
opponent.<br />
<div class="blockquote-quote">
</div>
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard summed up the game's warped value
systems by saying: "I think it's normal when you play games at that
level. Players and managers want to win so much - players will try every
trick in the book to try to get over the line and win matches.<br />
<br />
"We've all been guilty of it throughout our careers by not always abiding by the rules."<br />
<br />
The only way to appreciate this sentiment is that if we have all been
taught to value only the destination and not to care about the journey
in the "beautiful" game.<br />
<br /></div>
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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/article/1742126/chelseas-masters-dark-arts-highlight-win-all-costs-mentality">Masters of dark arts cast aside integrity</a></div>
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PUBLISHED : Thursday, 19 March, 2015hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-40480331983043178112015-04-29T10:58:00.003+08:002015-04-29T10:58:24.887+08:00Rational Ref: McManaman tackle exposes flaws in retrospective action<div class="panel-pane pane-node-title pos-3">
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FA's mishandling of Wigan player's challenge puts safety at risk, shows system needs review<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Wigan's Callum McManaman horror tackle on Massadio Haidara. Pic Focus Images</span><br />
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<br />
The
most horrible factor about the 2012-2013 season's worst challenge, by Callum
McManaman of Wigan, is not the tackle itself, but the fact it has been
surpassed by an even worse scenario: the FA's pathetic, retrospective
review of the incident.<br />
<br />
In incidents where a major injustice has occurred on the pitch and
where match officials have, for whatever reasons, shown they have not
properly dealt with the offence, taking retrospective action is a
sensible process. It protects players, supports referees and safeguards
the image of the game. It allows justice to be, and seen to be, done.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the FA's challenge turned out to be a feeble
sidestepping of the issue. The FA used a technicality to excuse itself
from not taking retrospective action against 21-year-old McManaman for
his awful tackle on Newcastle's 20-year-old defender Massadio Haidara.<br />
<br />
It exposes serious flaws in the system and is not limited to England
since all around the world, including Hong Kong, the retrospective
review system is often ineffective. It doesn't successfully protect
players, match officials or the image of the game. In hindsight, the
retrospective review process needs to be reviewed itself, for justice's
sake.<br />
<br />
Here is the FA's statement on the McManaman incident: <i>"Where one of
the officials has seen a coming together of players, no retrospective
action should be taken, regardless of whether he or she witnessed the
full or particular nature of the challenge. This is to avoid the
re-refereeing of incidents."</i><br />
<br />
Referee Mark Halsey was honest enough to admit that he did not see
the incident. Due to 51-year-old Halsey's poor positioning, his view of
McManaman's challenge was blocked by another player. However, assistant
referee Matthew Wilkes admitted seeing the "coming together" of the
players and the FA has shamelessly used this as an excuse for not taking
retrospective action against McManaman.<br />
<br />
First, the claim that the FA wishes to avoid re-refereeing incidents
is hypocritical. They do it often and they do it to undermine the
credibility of match officials. For instance earlier this year, the FA
rescinded referee Mike Dean's red card for Manchester City's Vincent
Kompany. That is the very definition of re-refereeing.<br />
<br />
Second, the FA's ignorance regarding the poor accuracy and
credibility of the witness' view is embarrassing. Just because a
linesman saw the incident does not mean he had a "good, near and clear
view" to make a competent decision. In fact, the distance between the
linesman and McManaman's challenge was at least 32 metres coupled to the
reality that his main priorities lie elsewhere on the field. We know
the linesman made a poor decision in assisting Halsey, so why not allow a
retrospective review? If the FA is so willing to re-referee, say,
Dean's perfectly clear and competent decision to send off Kompany, then
why is it less enthused about re-refereeing the poor decision not to
send off McManaman on the basis that the linesman vaguely saw the
"coming together" of two players from a distance of over 35 yards?<br />
<br />
Justice has not prevailed and the FA is seen to be hiding behind
excuses. Newcastle, clearly outraged, officially announced the FA's
disciplinary process to be "not fit for purpose" and have demanded a
change in the rule that allowed McManaman to escape sanction.<br />
<br />
If there is no perceived justice, then fans will be angry and jump at
the chance to form their own kangaroo courts. Players, too, will sense
the injustice and may take matters on themselves on the pitch.<br />
<br />
In McManaman's case, he will be jeered in future matches particularly
by Newcastle supporters and, as is the nature of the game, when he
eventually falls victim to a nasty tackle, there inevitably will be
those who will cheer and claim that it is "justice" served. No one
deserves an injury or to be put at risk of danger, but because the
public perception is that McManaman has escaped a previous sanction then
these very real human feelings may come to the fore among some fans.
Therefore, the FA urgently needs to demonstrate that its retrospective
review system is "fit for purpose". As it stands, the FA's mishandling
of McManaman's challenge has endangered player safety, left match
officials out to dry and tarnished the image of the game.<br />
<br />
In the modern professional era, on the pitch <b>there are 22 millionaire
mercenaries all trying to harass, hound and hoodwink a standard
salaryman referee trying his utmost to be correct, impartial and
consistent. </b>Since video replays are unacceptable in a game, the
post-match retrospective review is the second-best means available to
sanction players, act as a deterrent to unsavoury behaviour and
ultimately protect the image of the game.<br />
<br />
However, competition organisers around the world are failing the game with their pathetic process of retrospective reviews.<br />
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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/1202050/mcmanaman-tackle-exposes-flaws-retrospective-action">McManaman tackle exposes flaws in retrospective action</a></div>
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PUBLISHED : Friday, 29 March, 2013<br />
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<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>POST ARTICLE: Have things changed at the FA?</b></span><br />
hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-34984827827212484092015-04-12T01:13:00.000+08:002015-04-12T01:13:31.904+08:00Rational Ref: Professionals must remember only the ref can stop a match<br />
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Professionals must remember only the ref can stop a match</h1>
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Professionals need to remember that only the referee can stop a match, even when a player goes down injured</div>
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Unrepentant: Luiz Adriano (right)</div>
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<br />
Whatever
happened to "play to the whistle"? By taking matters into their own
hands and stopping play, players are only putting themselves in the
dock, on the block, and up the proverbial garden path.<br />
<br />
When a player
apparently suffers an injury during play, referees are the only ones who
have the authority to decide whether or not to stop a match. Players
ignore this at their peril.<br />
<br />
Tuesday's (20 November 2012) controversial goal by <a href="http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2013/matches/round=2000347/match=2009560/postmatch/report/">Shakhtar Donetsk against Nordsjaelland in the Champions League</a> is a prime example. When a
Nordsjaelland player went down injured, players voluntarily stopped play
in the middle of the park. After the player had been taken off the
pitch to receive treatment, the referee restarted play with a drop ball.
It was uncontested and Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Willian gently
booted the ball back to his opponents' half. However, Willian's
teammate, Brazilian Luiz Adriano, apparently did not realise a sporting
gesture was being played out, and so ran on to the "pass" to the
amazement of the static Nordsjaelland defenders, rounded the dismayed
goalkeeper, and promptly scored.<br />
<br />
Uefa has now charged Adriano with unsporting behaviour and he has been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/nov/27/shakhtar-luiz-adriano-banned-one-game">suspended for their next Champions League</a> match (for <b>"violation of the principles of conduct"</b>).<br />
<br />
There are many levels of inquiry here, and one easy solution. <b>First</b>,
in return for what most people perceive to be an unsporting goal, why
did the Shakhtar Donetsk defenders refuse to allow their opponents a
walk-in goal immediately after that misunderstanding?<br />
<br />
"Half their team seemed to think [it would be fair], but the other
half didn't," Nordsjaelland captain Nicolai Stokholm said. At that
moment, Shakhtar Donetsk had no leader to tell the whole team what they
should do. This would explain the team's mixed stance.<br />
<br />
It also explains how seriously some players take their profession,
with many having differing interpretations of how sporting behaviour
fits into the game, if at all.<br />
<br />
<b>Second</b>, why was Adriano seemingly unrepentant about his actions? "It
was instinct, I see the ball and I dribbled and I scored a goal," he
said. Adriano is basically saying a professional soccer player is
supposed to win matches. Does this mindset override sporting gestures
such as stopping play for an injured opponent?<br />
<br />
<b>Third</b>, why did players stop play in first place? How did they know
the player was injured and not faking injury? Are players trained in
medical triage? With all these risks, why would professional players
compromise themselves by taking up the referee's responsibility? It's
not simply a matter of being sporting, since stopping play can also be
trying to gain "brownie points" in the public eye.<br />
<br />
And, why did the players not kick the ball out of play? They just
stopped and looked around aimlessly, which reveals they really did not
know what to do and were probably seeking guidance. Therefore, they
should always "play to the whistle".<br />
<br />
Players stopping play first came to prominence at the 1986 World Cup
in Mexico, when Belgium played Spain in the quarter-finals. Even in the
baking summer heat, and having to play extra time, whenever a player
from any team went down his opponents would refuse to take advantage,
and instead opted to kick the ball out of play. This was genuine and
sincere "fair play".<br />
<br />
But things have moved on since then, most notably professionalism and
monetary rewards have brought increased cynicism and gamesmanship to
the modern game.<br />
<br />
This is why it is important to let one person, the match referee,
decide whether or not to call a halt when a player is apparently
injured. Referees will stop play only if, in their opinion, a player is
seriously injured. A serious injury is something of the magnitude of a
broken limb. However, judging by many players' reactions, it would seem a
little knock or slap is plenty enough to stop a match.<br />
<br />
At the amateur and parks level, stopping the game works beautifully
for almost any injury, either real or apparent. But at the competitive
and professional level, it is best left to the man in the middle to
decide whether or not to stop play. This prevents players from duping
opponents.<br />
<br />
Remember the 2010 World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain?
No love was lost in this ultimately competitive match. With Spain
eventually taking a 1-0 lead during extra-time, the Netherlands were
frantically trying to find the equalizer. In the 120th minute, Spain's
Fernando Torres pulled up apparently with a hamstring injury. The
sporting thing to do would have been to kick the ball out of play.
History shows the Netherlands did not give a fig about sportsmanship, as
they continued to attack Spain's goal.<br />
<br />
This week's lesson: At the professional level, sportsmanship is for suckers.<br />
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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/1088468/professionals-must-remember-only-ref-can-stop-match">At the very top, only losers are sporting</a></div>
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PUBLISHED : Friday, 23 November, 2012<br />
<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-58039138155493888762015-03-26T00:27:00.000+08:002015-03-26T00:27:43.994+08:00Rational Ref: In search of the 'spirit' of the game of soccer<div class="panel-pane pane-node-title pos-3">
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In search of the 'spirit' of the game of soccer</h1>
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Authorities
often talk of the 'spirit' soccer should be played in, but refuse to
define it, leaving the game vulnerable to cheats<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Hong Kong Football Association chief executive Mark Sutcliffe. Photo: Felix Wong</i></span></div>
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Exactly
what is the "spirit" that is expected of players and coaches in the
beautiful game? How do players and coaches understand and apply the
"spirit of the game"? And, more importantly, how should referees
interpret this?<br />
<br />
These are important questions for Hong Kong because for the coming
soccer season and beyond, the Hong Kong Football Association has asked
players, team officials and match officials to sign a "rules of conduct"
document, which previously was available only in Chinese.<br />
<br />
According to HKFA chief executive Mark Sutcliffe, the document has
been translated for the first time into English as part of the
association's commitment to become more bilingual. The document is
important and will further develop into one based on Fifa's "code of
conduct" to help fight match manipulation. Any player, coach or referee
who refuses to sign the document will be barred from HKFA activities.<br />
<br />
The first sentence of the English version states: <i>"Players and
team/match officials shall at all time [sic] play football in the spirit
of the game."</i><br />
<br />
Strangely, <b>there is no official definition of "spirit of the game"</b>
available from Fifa or other bodies. It is simply assumed that soccer
lovers intrinsically know what this spirit is. Therefore, the statement
could mean all manner of things to all manner of people in all manner of
situations.<br />
<br />
The humour website Urban Dictionary states: <i>"The spirit of the game
is defined by the intended rules as perceived in reflection to the other
rules. This most comes into [play] when the action in question is not
governed by a set rule. In this case, you are bound to play by the
spirit of the game."</i><br />
<br />
It uses the board game Monopoly as an example.<br />
<i>"If after a considerable number of turns have been taken by each
player, and one player gets into trouble and debt, instead of losing and
congratulating the winner, he proposes to 'join forces' with another
player - sharing money, property, and victory. Though this joining has
no rules set against it, this is against the spirit of the game, though
not implicitly stated. To join forces to tip the game in your favour is
against the spirit of the game."</i><br />
<br />
In this sense, the idea of not being able to accept defeat
graciously, and instead attempting to manipulate the game in one's
favour, is considered to be against the spirit of the game. This sounds
very much like being a bad loser and trying to win at all costs.<br />
<br />
How often do we see players, coaches and supporters behave like this?
And how frequently do we see teams attempt to manipulate the game in
their favour or to blame match officials for the result?<br />
<br />
One example where an action is not governed by a set rule, but is
bound by the spirit of the game, is when players deliberately stop the
game so an injured player may receive treatment. When play resumes,
players and supporters clap in appreciation of this gesture. From
Rational Ref's perspective, the clapping is usually insincere,
mechanical and superficial.<br />
<br />
Consider further when a goalkeeper has the ball in his hands and an
opposition player is down injured. The goalkeeper will throw the ball
out so the injured player can receive treatment. Usually, the player is
not seriously injured, probably the reason the referee did not stop the
game in the first place.<br />
<br />
Players who put the ball out of play take the risk of being duped.
Nevertheless, after the injured player has been dealt with, his
teammates will usually return the ball. Now depending on different
people's interpretation of "spirit of the game", the way the ball is
returned can take on different forms. Since the goalkeeper previously
had the ball in his hands, it would be fair to return the ball directly
to him; but this rarely happens. It is more common for the team to put
the ball out over the goal line to force a goal kick.<br />
<br />
Do players perceive a goal kick, rather than the goalkeeper kicking
the ball out from his hands, to be more or less favourable?
Occasionally, a team will return the ball over the touch-line and close
to the corner flag for a throw-in. Are these actions - which are clearly
not reciprocal - in keeping with the spirit of the game?<br />
<br />
Moreover, is the fact that a player who pretends to be injured and
therefore dupes his opponents into wasting time considered to be acting
against the spirit of the game? Or is it in keeping with the spirit
because it is better to be safe than sorry after receiving a knock?
Without a proper definition from the authorities, these situations are
both justified and vilified.<br />
<br />
During tough competitive matches we rarely see the spirit of the game
because teams go out to win, and not to make friends. Even the handful
of pre-season matches being played this week in Hong Kong by the four
visiting English Premier League teams (Manchester City, Tottenham
Hotspur, Sunderland and Manchester United) and HKFA Division One teams
(South China and Kitchee) will be far from "friendly".<br />
<br />
Considering there is no official definition of the spirit of the
game, it is extraordinary how match officials throughout the decades
have done their level best to ensure that matches are played fairly,
safely and in an enjoyable manner that is in keeping with the "spirit of
the game" … whatever that is supposed to be.<br />
<br />
It is simply a fuzzy, hazy and unclear concept that is used to instil a sense of sporting behaviour and respect in the game.<br />
<br />
<b>Agree or disagree? Contact Rational Ref at <a href="mailto:rationalref@gmail.com">rationalref@gmail.com</a></b><br />
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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/1290612/search-spirit-game-soccer">In search of the 'spirit' of the game</a></div>
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PUBLISHED : Friday, 26 July, 2013<br />
<br />hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4715494982371884149.post-72797667308683631992015-03-09T11:12:00.001+08:002015-03-10T01:15:19.295+08:00Rational Ref: Where do we draw the line on persistent fouling?<div class="panel-pane pane-node-title pos-3">
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Talented players will always be a target for 'special' treatment, but when must it be stopped?</div>
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<a class="colorbox init-colorbox-processed-processed cboxElement" href="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980w/public/2015/02/26/france_soccer_uefa_champions_league.jpg?itok=0EMMYZde" rel="gallery-[field_images-1724350]" title="Referee Cuneyt Ckir finally tires of the treatment meted out to Eden Hazard and books Marco Verratti of Paris Saint-Germain during last week's Champions League tie. Photo: EPA"><img alt="Referee Cuneyt Ckir finally tires of the treatment meted out to Eden Hazard and books Marco Verratti of Paris Saint-Germain during last week's Champions League tie. Photo: EPA" class="lazyload-processed" src="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/02/26/france_soccer_uefa_champions_league.jpg?itok=1R8UMTRe" data-original="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486x302/public/2015/02/26/france_soccer_uefa_champions_league.jpg?itok=1R8UMTRe" height="302" style="display: inline;" title="Referee Cuneyt Ckir finally tires of the treatment meted out to Eden Hazard and books Marco Verratti of Paris Saint-Germain during last week's Champions League tie. Photo: EPA" width="486" /></a> </li>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Referee
Cuneyt Ckir finally tires of the treatment meted out to Eden Hazard and
books Marco Verratti of Paris Saint-Germain during last week's
Champions League tie. Photo: EPA</i></span></div>
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<br />
What's
the best way to stop Eden from passing you by? Hazard a guess? Several
kicks ought to do it.<br />
<br />
Eden Hazard is the most fouled player in the <b>English Premier League</b>
this season. The Chelsea star was on the receiving end of some
"special" treatment in last week's Champions League encounter with Paris
Saint-Germain, when he was fouled nine times in a match where the
referee issued only two cautions.<br />
<br />
Everyone knows a team's best attacking player is both a godsend and a
liability. Such a player can turn a match in a heartbeat, but if he is
repeatedly targeted and injured, the team will struggle with other
options.<br />
<br />
Specifically targeting an opponent is all part of the game and the
rules are there to help referees discipline offending players for
persistent fouls. Persistent infringements are repeated offences by one
player on several others and also by several players on one opponent.
Since there is no defined frequency on what is persistent, it depends on
the referee's judgment to determine when enough is enough.<br />
<br />
Is nine times enough, or five or two? Every player and coach has
their own opinion. For instance, when a substitute enters the pitch,
immediately fouls an opponent with a careless trip and gets cautioned,
the referee is criticised for giving a card for the player's "first
foul".<br />
<a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image init-colorbox-processed-processed cboxElement" href="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/2015/02/26/fcbcd0ac4becaf004b7a88b4cf6a53e4.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title="Eden Hazard has come in for some rough treatment this season. Photo: AFP"><span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-right" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: right; width: 236px;"><img alt="" class="caption image-236w caption-processed lazyload-processed" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/236w/public/2015/02/26/fcbcd0ac4becaf004b7a88b4cf6a53e4.jpg?itok=up6_gel2" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/236w/public/2015/02/26/fcbcd0ac4becaf004b7a88b4cf6a53e4.jpg?itok=up6_gel2" style="height: 157px; width: 236px;" title="Eden Hazard has come in for some rough treatment this season. Photo: AFP" /><i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Eden Hazard has come in for some rough treatment this season. Photo: AFP</span></i></span></a><br />
Others may also be puzzled by the yellow card for an innocuous foul.<br />
<br />
However, what players, coaches and spectators often fail to realise
is the referee has recognised that the team as a whole has repeatedly
fouled an opponent and has therefore correctly penalised one player as a
warning to his teammates.<br />
<br />
Experienced referees are alert to the time-old tactic that players
like Hazard — who Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has compared favourably
to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo — will always receive more than
their fair share of special attention from the opposing team.<br />
<br />
Even Mourinho has admitted he instructs his players to target talented opponents.<br />
<div class="blockquote-quote">
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<b>It's how players react to being targeted that reveals their true
mettle.</b> Players who lose their heads fail spectacularly because they
believe the game revolves around them when in fact it is a team game.
Mourinho said: <i>"[Hazard] is pure. Today [in the Champions League] there
were nine fouls. In the Premier League, it's no different. If he's
another player he dives, stays on the floor, rolls in the grass,
screams. He's asking for cards and cards and cards."</i><br />
<br />
Messi is also pure, preferring to ride through challenges and letting
the referee or competition organiser deal with errant players.<br />
<br />
In contrast, Ronaldo has a quick temper and when challenged will
prefer to go down easily. Earlier this year the Real Madrid star kicked
out and slapped Cordoba's Edimar Fraga after enduring some special
attention in a La Liga match. He was sent off and banned for two
matches.<br />
<br />
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><img alt="" class="image-486w caption caption-processed lazyload-processed" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/02/26/soccer-spain_mdp06.jpg?itok=ErPhennA" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/02/26/soccer-spain_mdp06.jpg?itok=ErPhennA" style="height: 333px; width: 486px;" title="Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (left) hit out at Cordoba's Edimar Fraga after some rough treatment during their La Liga match in January and received a two-match ban. Photo: Reuters" /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Real
Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (left) hit out at Cordoba's Edimar Fraga
after some rough treatment during their La Liga match in January and
received a two-match ban. Photo: Reuters</span></i></span></span><br />
<br />
Chelsea's Nemanja
Matic has a similar temperament. Last weekend against Burnley he was on
the receiving end of a horrendous tackle by Ashley Barnes. Referee
Martin Atkinson did not have the best angle to see the incident and did
not whistle for a foul.<br />
<br />
But Matic reacted angrily by violently pushing Barnes to the ground, leaving Atkinson with no choice but to show him a red card.<br />
<br />
Mourinho, forgetting that the foundation of his managerial career is
based on using loyal but limited players in similar hard-grafting roles,
blasted Barnes saying: <i>"The player, if I can call him a player, should
have been in the shower in minute 31."</i><br />
<br />
In these modern times, even if the referee does not see a sending-off
incident, the FA supposedly has a process to be able to take
retrospective action. It depends on whether the FA has the will and
wherewithal to help protect the safety of players and referees alike, as
well as to uphold the image of the game.<br />
<br />
<span class="image-caption-container image-caption-container-none" style="clear: none; display: inline-block; float: none; width: 486px;"><img alt="" class="image-486w caption caption-processed lazyload-processed" data-original="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/02/26/football_ukuhab.jpg?itok=nH3bT4mH" src="https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/486w/public/2015/02/26/football_ukuhab.jpg?itok=nH3bT4mH" style="height: 321px; width: 486px;" title="Ashley Barnes' horror challenge, and Nemanja Matic was red-carded for his retaliation during Chelsea's draw with Burnley last weekend. Photo: Reuters" /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span class="image-caption" style="display: block;">Ashley
Barnes' horror challenge, and Nemanja Matic was red-carded for his
retaliation during Chelsea's draw with Burnley last weekend. Photo:
Reuters</span></i></span></span><br />
<br />
This also does not excuse Matic and Mourinho for
their reactions. Players taking the law into their own hands and
managers, who have the benefit of video replays criticising referees for
making honest mistakes, are revealing the egotistical nature of the
individuals involved.<br />
<br />
If only there could be a way to stop, or at least minimise, this obstinate behaviour. On the pitch, referees have rules to help tackle persistent infringements. Off the pitch, competition organisers should similarly apply the
rules and discipline all persistent offenders, thus allowing everyone to
focus on playing ball without the media circus.<br />
<br />
<b>Agree or disagree? Contact Rational Ref at <a href="mailto:rationalref@gmail.com">rationalref@gmail.com</a></b></div>
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This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as <a href="http://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/1724350/where-do-we-draw-line-persistent-fouling">Drawing the line on persistent fouls</a></div>
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PUBLISHED : Thursday, 26 February 2015<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE</b> <br />
The statistics show Eden Hazard "wins" a yellow card for every 11 fouls against him, compared with Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez "winning" a card for every 6 fouls (see <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/11456750/Why-Eden-Hazard-really-does-need-more-protection-from-referees-at-Chelsea.html">Why Eden Hazard Really Does Need More Protection From Referees</a>).hkrefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14758566148041958225noreply@blogger.com1