Remember 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.

The upshot? USA World Cup referee Mark Geiger was accused by Morocco player Nordin Amrabat of "asking for Cristiano Ronaldo's shirt". Obviously there are "sour grapes" because Morocco lost to Portugal and subsequently after two matches Morocco are knocked out of the World Cup.

FIFA has released a strong statement that "unequivocally condemns the allegations [by Amrabat]" and that American referee Geiger "has acted in an exemplary and professional manner."

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.




2 June 2012

Not Convinced About Collina in Respect Campaign

Here's the lead sentence from UEFA's social responsibility programme:

"Swapping shirts at the end of a match is a symbol of respect between opponents."

And here we see a famous Referee swapping shirts with a famous player:

Pierluigi Collina and Karem Benzema. Pic from UEFA.
 

Question 1: Does the Referee regard the player as an 'opponent'?

Question 2: Do Referees really exchange jerseys with players?

I am unconvinced about this latest respect campaign from UEFA.* UEFA claim that "Pierluigi Collina and Karem Bezema exchange jerseys as a mark of Respect". This is an incorrect and illogical claim. 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.

Instead, UEFA Referees' Chief Pierluigi Collina has a reputation for collecting famous football players' shirts without exchanging his own 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. 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.

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. Also, it is by definition unethical.

Football Dark Arts

What are the Dark Arts in soccer? This interesting book is the first-ever collection of 80 negative football tricks, traps and tips that are used by mischievous players, coaches and managers.

Here is the book description, which is found on Amazon websites:

How winners in football really win at football.

Football Dark Arts provides detailed knowledge about crafty, deceitful and outrageous gamesmanship that will help you and your team win matches.

For the first time anywhere, 80 tricks, traps and tips in soccer 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.

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 “The Beautiful Game”.

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!

Proceeds from this book will go to the Common Goal fund to support football charities around the world.

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. This book is an "eyeopener" into the real world of competitive football. Highly recommended.

FA Concludes Ferguson’s Referee Remarks “Grossly Improper”

The Football Association fined Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson £20,000 and gave him a four match touchline ban of which two are suspended until the end of the 2010-11 season.

Ferguson reluctantly admitted a charge of improper conduct made about referee Alan Wiley following United's match against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 3 October.

The FA Regulatory Commission stated that Ferguson’s remarks were: “… in the context in which they were made, were not just improper but were grossly improper and wholly inappropriate. He should never have said what he did say.”

Ferguson has a history of improper conduct charges for incidents involving referees:

In the 2007-08 season, the FA gave Ferguson a two-match touchline ban and fined him £5,000 for a rant at referee Mark Clattenburg during a match at Bolton; and

In the 2008-09 season, the FA gave Ferguson a two-match touchline ban and fined him £10,000 after remonstrating with referee Mike Dean after a match against Hull.

HKRef would like to see the FA give Ferguson a significant penalty when (not if) he abuses referees again.

Drogba and Chelsea appeal over European bans

Is there no integrity left?
What I mean is, "Is there no integrity left in football players and football clubs?"

Didier Drogba of Chelsea FC had previously stated that he would accept any punishment given to him by UEFA. This was after he publicly apologised for his unsporting behaviour and abuse of Norway referee Tom Henning Ovrebo during and after the 2nd leg semi-final match between Chelsea and Barcelona.

Now Chelsea state that they will appeal against his ban (which is a six-match ban, with two games suspended for two years).


[Drogba abuses Ovrebo. BBC News]

I strongly suspect (and of course I have no proof) that Chelsea, being a rich club, obtained sound legal advice which led to a strategy of attempting to limit and minimize the impending punishment to their players. Viewed in this way, it is not unreasonable to see why Drogba publicly apologised and stated that he would accept any punishment from UEFA. UEFA's Disciplinary Committee may therefore have been "influenced" by this information and may perhaps had decided not to give their harshest punishment because they might have falsely believed that Chelsea and Drogba would not appeal. So, UEFA's Disciplinary Committee may have been duped and outsmarted!!

By not keeping his word, Drogba should feel ashamed. If Drogba knew about this strategy, he should feel doubly ashamed. Is there no integrity left in football players and football clubs?


Related Link: Life Ban for Chinese Player Who Attacked Referee

Reference: Chelsea appeal over European bans (BBC News)

Saturday, 20 June 2009

Chelsea have confirmed they will appeal against bans handed to Didier Drogba and Jose Bosingwa by Uefa after May's Champions League match with Barcelona. Drogba was given a six-match ban, with two games suspended for two years, for his row with referee Tom Henning Ovrebo. Bosingwa called Ovrebo a "thief" and serves a four-match ban, one suspended. Chelsea now have six more days to formally lodge their appeal, and are also set to contest a £85,000 for improper conduct by players and fans.

Before the bans were announced, Drogba had stated that he would accept any punishment given to him by Uefa. "My behaviour was not what Uefa and everyone wants to see in a football stadium," he said ahead of the governing body's verdict.

The Blues were stunned by the severity of the suspensions following a bitter 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their semi-final, which saw them eliminated on the away goals rule. They felt referee Ovrebo should have awarded several penalties in the second half, and blamed him for their exit. Drogba swore into live TV cameras in front of millions of people, later apologising for his behaviour, while he and several other players surrounded the Norwegian official after the final whistle.

Andres Iniesta's late away goal gave Barca a place in the final where they beat Manchester United to win the prestigious trophy.

Life Ban for Chinese Player Who Attacked Referee

The Chinese Football Association yesterday meted out harsh but perhaps deserved punishments to players and coaching personnel of the Tianjin youth National Games football team who harassed and abused a referee last Sunday.

Tianjin's Zhao Shitong (white no 12), who chased referee He Zhibiao and pushed him over, is banned for life from any activity related to football. [Note: if this player is young and inexperienced, then I have reservations whether this is the correct approach.]
Tianjin's goalkeeper Li Gen (yellow no 1) and midfielder Hao Tengjiao (white no 8), who both hounded and chased the referee, each received three-year bans.

Videoclips taken from CCTV of the incident, which have been widely distributed online, clearly show these players hounding, chasing and pushing the referee.

Two other Tianjin players (nos 16, 13) were banned for 30 months, two (nos 4, 11) for 24 months, one (no 14, who received a straight red for stamping on an opponent's chest) for 10 matches, and one player (no 9) for five matches. A coaching staff also received a one-year ban (although I am not sure if this was the head coach Sun Jianjun, who had previously said that he would "bear the primary responsibility for the incident"). Can anyone please confirm this?


Still no details about any apology to the referee!
I don't think an apology to the referee will occur (or if it does happen, it will not be reported by the media).


Related Links
Tianjin Players and Personnel Punishment Decisions (translated English version)
Tianjin Players and Personnel Punishment Decisions (Chinese version)

Reference Chinese player banned for life after ref attack (Reuters)

Jul 31, 2009

A player who led an attack on the referee after a qualifier for the National Games last weekend was banned for life by the Chinese Football Association (CFA) yesterday.

In the latest incident to tarnish the reputation of Chinese soccer, Tianjin's Zhao Shitong chased referee He Zhibiao for over 100 metres and pushed him down to ground before being restrained by police at the end of a match against Beijing on Sunday.

Zhao was banned for life from any activity related to football, the CFA said on its website. Goalkeeper Li Gen and midfielder Hao Tengjiao, who chased the referee off the pitch, were each given three-year bans.

Two other players were banned for 30 months, two for two years, one for 10 matches and one for five matches. An official from Tianjin Teda, the local Chinese Super League club, was also banned for a year.

The bans were announced just hours after the vice-president of China's leading club Beijing Guoan predicted the Chinese Super League would rival England's Premier League within 15 years. Zhang Lu said soaring interest in the domestic game could soon attract big name players and transform the current league set-up into a world beater.

"I believe the Chinese Super League can become one the most popular leagues in the world," said Zhang, a former goalkeeper and coach of the capital's top club.

His comments echoed those of English Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore, who said earlier this week that the Chinese Super League has huge potential.

Zhang said that after two difficult years where the league was plagued by poor refereeing, corruption and temperamental players, the last 12 months had brought a new optimism with attendances up at leading clubs.

"Fifty thousand recently watched Beijing Guoan in the derby against Tianjin Teda a record for China's domestic football," he said. "We have at least 10 or 15 years to wait before we catch up to the Premier League."

No Apology Given To China Referee Attacked By Players

Today (Thursday 30 July 2009), a full four days after China referee He Zhibiao (何志彪) was harangued by Tianjin football players, I Googled to see if there had been any apology given to the referee.

I used search terms: referee china chased 2009 which gave about 63,400 results.

I then used search terms: referee china chased 2009 apology which gave about 11,500 results. However, looking closely at the results, it is obvious that there was no apology given to the referee.

The closest to an apology was the Xinhua news story which said:

Sun Jianjun, head coach of Tianjin Football Team expressed his apologies at the press conference after the match.

But that is definitely NOT an apology to the referee. In my view, the referee deserves an apology.

In contrast, at least Didier Drogba officially and publicly apologised to Norway referee Tom Henning Ovrebo the day after his intimidation of the referee on 6 May 2009 during Chelsea's exit at the Champions League semi-final stage against Barcelona.

Referee in China Hounded, Chased, and Pushed by Tianjin Players: Consequences

According to Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese Football Association has acted swiftly and disqualified the Tianjin U20 football team from the upcoming National Games held in October.

However, didn’t the result of the match (i.e. Tianjin’s defeat by Beijing) automatically eliminate Tianjin from the upcoming National Games? Or perhaps that particular qualification match was a group game and the qualifying team had not yet been determined? As mentioned previously, the news reports regarding match details and specific outcomes are inconsistent.

Other punishments handed down by the Chinese Football Association are:

Formal criticism to Tianjin team manager and coach.
Tianjin is disqualified from voting/participating in the game sportsmanship award.
Tianjin is ordered to discipline their players, and culpable team members must write a self-criticism report.
Because Tianjin team’s violations are considered serious, the National Games football project requested the Chinese Football Association Disciplinary Committee to further punish culpable staff.

The comments from Tianjin’s coach Sun Jianjun appear to make little sense, and I have not seen or heard anything remotely like an apology to the referee. At the very least, the referee deserves an apology.

As usual, the media has ignored the view from the referee who was hounded, chased and pushed for simply performing his duty. I hope referee He Zhibiao (何志彪) gets the full support from his referees association, Chinese Football Association and all the clubs.




Related Links
Field of violence against the common maintenance of good order in court Chinese Football Association
Tianjin Soccer Team disqualified from National Games for "Beat referee incident" Xinhua news (English)
Tianjin Soccer Team Chasing and Beating Referee China Hush

Referee in China Hounded, Chased, and Pushed by Tianjin Players: History

I do not know whether this has anything to do the match on Sunday 26 July 2009, but there is some recent bad history between Bejing and Tianjin football teams.

The bad history is at the Chinese Super League level and, as I mentioned, I do not know if this is related to what happened between the Bejing and Tianjin U20 football teams last Sunday.

On 13 June 2009 during a Chinese Super League match, Tianjin's Tan Wangsong “attacked” Beijing goalkeeper Yang Zhi, who was severely injured and had to be carried off the pitch. Tan received a five-match ban and was fined 25,000 yuan (about US$3,600).

On 12 November 2008 during a Chinese Super League match between Beijing Guo'an and Tianjin Kangshifu, a mass brawl on the pitch started after the referee gave a red card (second yellow) to Beijing's defender Zhang Yonghai towards the end of the match.

Beijing-Tianjin 12 November 2008


Related Links
Controversial red card sparks scuffle in CSL Sina.com

Referee in China Hounded, Chased, and Pushed by Tianjin Players: Match Details

I managed to find more details about the football match between teams from Beijing and Tianjin. The match date was Sunday 26 July 2009, and it was not a Chinese Super League match.

It was an Under-20 qualification match to determine the final team for the 11th National Games, which are scheduled for 11-23 October and involves eight U20 Chinese teams. The Beijing team beat the Tianjin team 3-1.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the qualification match took place in Tai'an city in east China's Shandong Province. Various news reports of the match appear inconsistent, but generally what happened was:

At 1-1, referee He Zhibiao (何志彪) gave a red card to a Tianjin player, who had been substituted and was sitting on the players’ bench, for foul and abusive language.
At 2-1, the referee gave a red card (second yellow) to a Tianjin player. Then a Tianjin defender stamped on the chest of an opponent, and was shown a straight red for serious foul play.
Apparently, the Tianjin goalkeeper became “distraught and disheartened” and tried to leave the pitch but the Tianjin coach Sun Jianjun physically pushed him back on. Emotions among Tianjin players and coaching personnel were sky high.
In injury time, a Tianjin player scored an own goal to make it 3-1. Tianjin knew they were eliminated from the National Games.

When the referee blew for full time, the Tianjin players started to target the referee.


Related Links
Tianjin Soccer Team disqualified from National Games for "Beat referee incident" Xinhua news (English)
全运京津战全武行：天津三红 险罢赛 追打裁判 Xinhua news (Chinese)
Tianjin gets the boot for brawl ShanghaiDaily.com
Tianjin football team attack referee in Beijing match China News Wrap
Tianjin Soccer Team Chasing and Beating Referee China Hush

Referee in China Hounded, Chased, and Pushed by Tianjin Players

I first noticed this news story (Referee chased off pitch by players) on the BBC website and immediately wanted further information. The BBC videoclip (34 sec) does not include any incident(s) detailing the bizarre circumstances, and the text did not have any description aside from saying "angry football players for the Tianjin football team in China chase a referee around after losing a game".

After a little detective work, I managed to find slightly better videoclips on YouTube (35 sec) and CNN (45 secs)

Referee in China Gets Attacked


These videoclips show the referee giving a red card to a Tianjin substitute who is on the bench, and to a Tianjin player (no 14) for stamping on the chest of a Beijing player. We also see the Tianjin goalkeeper (no 1) hounding the referee at the final whistle, Tianjin player (no 8) chasing the referee, and Tianjin player (no 12) sprinting towards the referee and pushing him to the ground.

The behaviour of these players (plus the behaviour of their coaches and/or managers) is appalling and is to be condemned. Referees do not deserve this kind of abuse anytime, anywhere or from anybody.

More match details, history and consequences to follow in my next post.