Minor Contact May Cause Major Problems

The following incident occurred during a Copa Del Rey (King's Cup) round of 16 second-leg match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo on Wednesday 9 January 2013. The match finished 4—0, with Real Madrid winning 5—2 on aggregate.

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (white 7) races forward with the ball and does his trademark "skip" to simultaneously change direction of the ball and himself. Subsequently, the defender (red 2) tries to adjust himself accordingly. Here are the freeze frames:

 

 

 

Clash of thighs and knees here!

 

  

Full impact of downward force on left leg (red player)

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, there was slight contact as the Celta Vigo defender's left knee brushed against Ronaldo's right thigh just before he expected to land on his left foot and push off hard to change his direction. At high speed, this alters certain trajectories of movement, so that now the defender's left leg has a more open (obtuse) angle than anticipated which cannot take the full impact of the downward force exerted on it. The left knee jarred and crumpled (plus the ankle may have also been sprained) and this is why the freak injury occurred.

Furthermore, Ronaldo's right leg trajectory was also altered, which is why he lost his footing and fell.

A freak injury caused by unexpected minor contact

 

The referee knew there was contact, and therefore played advantage when Ronaldo quickly got back on his feet and continued to attack toward goal.


Why post about this? In the EPL, there is much heated discussion about Tottenham Hotspur player Gareth Bale and his reputation for diving or going to ground easily. He has been cautioned five times since the beginning of the season, all for simulation. Some of his cautions were correct and some are debatable because there was contact before Bale went to ground.

This concept of "slight contact" having a significant effect on an athlete moving at high speed perhaps deserves more consideration. Match officials are always striving to improve their skills, and having more examples and research on this concept can help Referees better understand why some players may appear to go down easily at the slightest contact. Can slight contact really have a major impact on a player's movement? Further examples and research would benefit Referees who encounter such incidents at the highest (and fastest) levels.


References

Sunderland 1 Tottenham 2: Bale caught up in new diving storm but Spurs go marching on (Daily Mail)

Bale dives into face-to-face talks with ref Marriner as Spurs ace tries to get rid of his reputation (Daily Mail)

Major Law Screwup in an MLS Match

The following incident occurred during an MLS match between New York Red Bulls and Portland Timbers on 19 August 2012. The match finished 3—2. There was 1 YC.

In the 45', just before halftime with the score 1—2, referee Jason Anno awards a controversial goal to NY Red Bulls (white) to level the score. Here are the freeze frames:

 

 

 

 Referee Jason Anno whistles here for handball, just as Tim Cahill shoots from the rebound

 

 

Portland players (green) question referee Anno's decision. But Anno is adamant that the goal stands.

 

The videoclips can also be seen from:

Highlights: NY v POR (about 04:00 in)

Cahill strikes home controversial equalizer


Even the commentators believed the goal would not stand because of the whistle being blown before the ball entered the goal. Here's how the MLS Match Center described the play:

The Red Bulls then equalized through Tim Cahill just before halftime on a controversial play. Dax McCarty hit a shot that deflected off of defender David Horst’s outstretched arms and center official Jason Anno blew his whistle and signaled for a penalty kick before changing his call after seeing Cahill bury the rebounded effort.

Some questions posed:

1) What are the reasons for referee Jason Anno to award the goal? He clearly knew he whistled for an infringement (i.e. handball), so what was going through his mind?

2) What should the AR and/or 4th Official have done?

3) What are the possible restarts?