Two-footed Challenges Are Considered Serious Foul Play

When two opponents are both within playing distance and challenging for the ball, referees must be alert that a player flying in with two feet off the ground and with studs exposed is using excessive force. This is what happened during the Premiership league match between Chelsea and Stoke on Sunday 25 April 2010. The match finished 7—0.

[Stoke’s Danish goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen suffered a dislocated right elbow following a two-footed challenge by Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou]

Unfortunately, referee Steve Bennett allowed the goal to stand and Kalou to escape sanction. The following are some freeze frames of the incident from 3 different camera angles.







The two-footed challenge, viewed from whichever angle, tells the same story. That is, the Chelsea player (blue) used excessive force and should have been sent off for serious foul play.

Offside and Consistency

The following incidents occurred during the Atletico Madrid and Liverpool Europa League first leg semi-final match on Thursday 22 April 2010. The match ended 1—0.

In the first half, Liverpool scored but the goal was disallowed due to the AR flagging for offside. The following two freeze frames show that the AR was well positioned but his split-second decision was incorrect.

[As Liverpool (black) pass the ball, the Liverpool attacker is onside]

In the second half, Atletico Madrid had a goal scoring opportunity from a similar passing situation but slightly further upfield. The following two freeze frames show that the AR is again well positioned and his split-second decision is correct.

[As Atletico Madrid (white/red) pass the ball, the Atletico Madrid attacker is onside]

For both non-offside incidents, the AR was well positioned and yet made the correct decision once. In the first incident, the AR is facing the field of play (i.e. he is sideways on) when he made the incorrect call; in the second incident, the AR has his head turned towards the field of play (i.e. he is running down the touch line) when he made the correct call. Are there any explanations and remedies?


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Offside and Optimum Officiating

Serious Foul Play and Good Officiating

The following incident occurred during the Bayern Munich and Olympique Lyon UEFA Champions League first leg semi-final match on Wednesday 21 April 2010. The match ended 1—0.

In the 38th minute, Italian referee Roberto Rosetti sent off Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery for serious foul play. Here are some freeze frames of the incident.

[Referee Roberto Rosetti had a clear and uninterrupted view of the challenge from Munich's Ribery (red#7) on Lyon's Cris]

[Reverse angle]

Although it may be argued that referee Rosetti did not have the optimum viewing angle, he is nonetheless close to the incident and has a clear uninterrupted view of Ribery’s approach to the ball. Rosetti was focused on the incident and had no hesitation in showing a red card to the offender.

Offside and Optimum Officiating

The following incident occurred during the Inter Milan and Barcelona UEFA Champions League first leg semi-final match on Tuesday 20 April 2010. The match ended 3—1.

Inter Milan's third goal (which may or may not prove decisive following the return leg at the Nou Camp next week) had a hint of offside to it. Here are two freeze frames of the incident.

[Inter Milan player (Sneijder; blue player near penalty mark) ‘misdirects his header’ and the ball is subsequently nodded in by his teammate (Milito)]

[Inter Milan's Milito may be offside when his teammate Sneijder heads the ball forward (reverse angle)]

Whether or not the third goal was offside is academic now. However, to reduce any doubts about the decision to award a goal, it would have been optimum officiating had the assistant referee (AR) been in line with the second-last defender. Take a look at the AR's position during the incident.

But considering the speed of the lead up to the goal (it was a fair challenge that opened up the Barcelona defence in the attacking third), it may have been nigh physically impossible for the AR to get in to the best position.


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Europa League Optimum Officiating

The following incident occurred during the Liverpool and Benfica Europa League second leg quarter-final match on Thursday 8 April 2010. The match ended 4—1, and Liverpool advanced to the semi-final stage with an aggregate score of 5—3.

These 5 freeze frames during a Liverpool corner kick show why the assistant referee (AR) may have thought that there was a touch by a first Liverpool (red) player before the second Liverpool player adjacent to the goalkeeper headed the ball into the goal. This was the decisive first goal of the match.

[In the 28th minute, the ball is flighted into the goal area. Is there a touch by the first Liverpool (red) player?]

Because the AR is unsure whether there was a first touch, he signals for offside. This is optimum officiating because the AR is doing his job and allowing the Referee to be aware of all concerns. By communicating what the concerns are, the Referee can weigh up all the available information to make a more informed decision (because the Referee may have been nearer the play and may also have had a better angle to see the flight of the ball).

Furthermore, because this is the Europa League, there is the added bonus of being able to communicate with the extra assistant referee (EAR) who may have had the optimum view of the incident compared with the R and AR. We can only assume that the R consulted both his AR and EAR, and awarded the goal on the basis that no one but the goalscorer touched the ball before it entered the goal from a corner kick.

In HKRef's view, the AR has done an excellent job. Unfortunately, the Liverpool fans standing behind the AR can only see the negatives in what is actually a moment of optimum officiating.

[Fans abuse the AR for doing his job admirably]

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Europa League Penalty Kicks and Encroachment

In the 79th minute, there is a clear infringement during the second penalty kick of the Benfica and Liverpool Europa League first leg quarter-final match on Thursday 1 April 2010. The match ended 2—1.

Here's the second penalty in 3 freeze frames:

[Liverpool player (#32) tells the referee about the offending Benfica player, but the referee will just say that he did not see any infringement. "I didn't see it" is an excuse, but not a reason.]

Earlier in the 59th minute during the first penalty kick, there was possibly an infringement. However no matter whether or not there was an infringement, had the referee been better positioned then this "debate about a possible infringement" should not have arisen in the first place. Here's the first penalty in 2 freeze frames:

[Is the referee standing in a good position to deter or detect encroachment?]

These two incidents show that the referee Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) did not do enough to deter or detect encroachment during penalty kicks. Both times, the referee was watching the penalty kicker and did not have an optimum position to allow him a suitable view of the players behind the ball. At the very least, the referee should have stood several yards further towards the nearer touchline to at least be able to see (out of the corner of his eye) the players closest to his left side.

The larger issue here is that HKRef fails to understand the rationale in the positioning of the referee, especially since the Europa League is experimenting with extra referee assistants (EARs). It defies logic that the EAR and the AR are both on the goal line watching the goalkeeper. As mentioned in a previous post, it would make more sense if the EAR is positioned nearer the 18 yard line. In that position, the EAR can assist the referee to deter player encroachment.

This is just another point that questions the “usefulness” of the EAR.

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Referees On Wheels!

This is what managers believe referees need!

[Mark Halsey on a Segway (pic courtesy Sun News Group)]

Ref revolution is wheely great (The Sun)

1 April 2010

Sam Allardyce last night gave the thumbs up to an amazing 'ref-mobile'.

The Blackburn boss believes the motorised two-wheeler will keep referees up to speed with the game's fastest players.

Football authorities have been secretly testing the Segways - and they will be used in the Blue Square Premier next season.

With players like Theo Walcott, Gabby Agbonlahor and Aaron Lennon capable of incredible speeds, it is hoped this new innovation will help refs keep up.

Allardyce said: "Players are athletes and we can't expect refs to keep up with them for a full 90 minutes, so this gives them a real edge.

"We can no longer say the referee was nowhere near the incident because, with this, he will be.

"Finally refs and managers are listening to each other."

Top referee Mark Halsey said: "Not only does the innovation help referees keep right up with play it will also mean older, more experienced refs will not be lost to the game.

Read the rest of the article (click here)

Note: Sloof Lirpa