Checking the Goal Net ... Supposedly

The following incident occurred during the EAFF qualifying round, hosted in Hong Kong, between North Korea and Australia on Wednesday 5 December 2012. The match finished 1—1, and there were 4 YCs.

Just before the second half begins, the match officials and the players have returned to the field of play. Take a look at the following videoclip of AR1:

Did you see what AR1 did ... or rather did not do?

The identity of AR1 is unknown. Unfortunately, the East Asian Football Federation website lacks many details and only named the match Referee as Wang Zhe (who is either from China or Taiwan). At a guess, I think AR1 was from Thailand because AR2 was from Taiwan ... since each MA were invited to provide only one R and one AR ... so there were no trios). In any case, the officiating at the tournament, held from 1-9 December, was shockingly poor and if anyone would like to learn from the mistakes of other match officials (those who have FIFA badges), then watching match videos of this EAFF qualifying tournament is a good place to start!

For Future Discussion
Match officials who have FIFA badges have a responsibility to carry out their duties to the best of their abilities. Too many times we have witnessed many match officials who flout this responsibility. There is a flaw (perhaps many flaws) in the blanket-wide nature and blanketing culture in allowing each MA throughout the world the same number of match officials to wear FIFA badges, even though this means that there is a huge variation in ability, talent and attitude which largely depends on the quality of national refereeing programmes and also perhaps exposure to regular quality domestic matches. Just watching the FIFA match officials selected for the EAFF qualifying round, who came from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, gave me concern about their ability, talent and attitude. This is a discussion for another time.

Happy New Year to everyone!!


Related News Story


Australia top standings as Hong Kong finish third in East Asian Cup qualifiers

Monday, 10 December, 2012, 12:00am
Chan Kin-wa kinwa.chan@scmp.com

Australia qualified for next year's East Asian Cup finals on goal difference yesterday, edging out North Korea at Hong Kong Stadium.

With North Korea beating Hong Kong 4-0 in yesterday's first match, the Australians, level on points and goal difference with the Koreans at the start of the day, had a clear target against Taiwan.

Their mission was completed early as they banged in five goals in the first half, finishing 8-0 winners.
"I feel sorry we could not score more goals in the first two matches against Guam and Taiwan," said North Korea coach Yun Jong-su. "The overall result is a bit lower than our expectations as we've failed to reach the finals."

Australia, who are playing in the East Asian Cup for the first time, join Japan, South Korea and China in July's finals. "It is a welcome opportunity for me to see some of the boys building for the future as our priority is to qualify for the World Cup finals," said coach Holger Osieck.

Capital Reward for Australia's Top Referee

Congratulations to top referee Ben Williams and his ARs Luke Brennan and Paul Cetrangolo for their prime appointment to the 2012 AFC Champions League final between Ulsan Hyundai (South Korea) and Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia) on Saturday 10 November 2012 at the Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, Korea.

Referee Ben Williams. Pic from here.


Related Post


Optimum Officiating: Tackling Time Wasting

Referees and Handbags

Lots of handbags in the friendly match between Australia and Paraguay on Friday 9 October 2010. The match finished 1—0.

World Cup referee Yuichi Nishimura dished out only two yellow cards both to Paraguay (one for simulation to #3 Claudio Rodriguez in the 23rd minute and a caution to #2 Dario Veron for a reckless tackle on #10 Harry Kewell in the 85th minute), in what appeared to be a feisty-not-friendly and tough-not-technical match.

Here are the match statistics, with Paraguay committing twice as many fouls as the Socceroos.


It seems full-time professional referee Nishimura took up from where he left off at the World Cup in South Africa and managed the match by attempting to talk with players rather than hand out cards. This policy at the 2010 World Cup saw Nishimura rewarded with four matches and he was also the 4th Official in three matches including the World Cup final.

In this encounter between Australia and Paraguay, Nishimura's talk-but-no-cards policy meant that many players escaped sanctions with their provocative posturing, tough challenges and dangerous manhandling.

The following highlights (from videos here and here) show some examples of referee positioning and physical incidents of the spirited feisty encounter between the two teams:

1) (0:23)
Interesting position adopted by Nishimura. He has two options during this Australia attack. Option 1 is the standard run towards the D (which is how he is initially shaping his run), which gives him the external angle and also allows him to anticipate a cross into the penalty area. Option 2 is the run towards the AR (which is his eventual positioning), which enables him to observe play behind the players but gives him an internal angle and also puts him out of position if there is a cross into the penalty area.

2) (0:38)
For Australia’s goal, the Referee’s positioning makes it difficult for him to see the foul beforehand by the Paraguay defender. As the ball is crossed from the right, the Paraguay defender had no chance to reach the ball and instead bundles over the Australia attacker.
Fortunately, the ball falls to #3 David Carney who scores with a wonderful left-footed strike. However, whether the goal was scored or not, the question to ask is whether Nishimura (or his AR or 4th Official) spotted the foul.

3) (1:38)
For a friendly, there appeared to still be plenty of gamesmanship between the players. Australia #8 Luke Wilkshire clears the ball but Paraguay #18 Nelson Valdez leads with his studs and leaves them in. Valdez could have seriously injured his opponent. This is the reason why Wilkshire reacted, and then it went all “handbags”. Referee Nishimura eventually came on the scene and attempted to talk with both players. No cards and not even a warning to Valdez for his gamesmanship.

4) (2:22)
More feistiness occurs between the players because of the continued gamesmanship. Does Nishimura’s policy of just “talking with the players without using meaningful roadblocks” work? Here, the cause of this confrontation is due to Paraguay #20 Osvaldo Martinez striking his opponent Australia #17 Scott McDonald on the head with his right arm. As McDonald confronts his assailant, Paraguay #13 Enrique Vera rushes in and grabs McDonald’s throat using his left hand. Again, what does the Referee do? No cards and no warning to Martinez or Vera for their gamesmanship.

5) (2:57)
In the course of the match Australia players have shown that they have endured the gamesmanship and tolerated the physical knocks from Paraguay. However when it comes to Paraguay players being on the receiving end of some robust challenges, their tolerance is different. Paraguay #10 Edgar Benitez didn’t like the robust challenges he received and reacted by raising his right hand threateningly to grabbing the throat of the nearest Australia player to him (#8 Wilkshire), even though just earlier Benitez clearly pushed Australia player #13 Jade North in the back.

Perhaps this newspaper quote from Australia #10 Harry Kewell fairly sums up this feisty encounter:

Kewell found himself at the centre of attention from the Paraguayan players, who kept physically challenging him - although at least he didn't have his throat grabbed as teammates Scott McDonald and Wilkshire did. ''I think it was one of those games where the ref let a few tackles fly,'' Kewell said. ''But we're not one to back down from challenge. We give as good as we get.''

Kewell's comment that "the ref let a few tackles fly" is pretty much correct. The tone of the match is more to do with how the referee manages these incidents. There are pros and cons to "having a word" with players, but as soon as players sense that a referee is reluctant to issue cards that are warranted by the Laws, then all handbags and hell may break loose!

Furthermore, when guilty players quickly run away from incidents and from the referee despite the referee clearly whistling and signalling several times for the player to “come to him” (which happened frequently during the match), then the referee must adjust his management approach to the game. Unfortunately, Nishimura did not take this into account and players, mainly Paraguay players, and even the Paraguay coach, disrespected the referee's authority.

Some Observations from Pre-World Cup Friendlies

Japan 1-2 England
The following incident occurred during the Japan and England friendly on Sunday 30 May 2010.

Encroachment
Players continue to encroach, and it appears referees continue to allow players to enter the penalty area before the penalty taker kicks the ball.

[England’s Frank Lampard (red #8) hasn’t kicked the ball yet, and Wayne Rooney (red #10) is already about 6 or 7 yards close to the ball. Two Japan players (blue #22, #2) have also encroached. Pic Getty Images.]

Q: The penalty was saved by the Japan goalkeeper. Within the laws of the game, what should referees do in this situation?


Australia 1-0 Denmark
The following incident occurred during the Australia and Denmark friendly on Tuesday 1 June 2010 at the Roodepoort Athletics Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Offside Player Involved in Active Play
Law 11 states that a player in an offside position is penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee involved in active play.

[Australia’s Josh Kennedy (yellow #9) should have been penalised for being offside and interfering with an opponent. Video link here.]

The above five freeze frames show that when the ball is crossed from the right, Kennedy (yellow) is in an offside position. The ball is then deflected up and, because the defending team has not yet brought the ball under control, Kennedy should be regarded as "interfering with an opponent". ARs must watch these situations closely.


Related Post (Law 14)
Europa League Penalty Kicks and Encroachment

Related Posts (Law 11)
Some Observations of the 2010 Europa League Final

Offside and Consistency

Offside and Optimum Officiating