Corner Kick Offence Is A Symptom of Disrespectful Player Attitude

The following incident occurred during an MLS match between DC United and Houston Dynamo on Saturday 25 June 2011. The match finished 2—2.

DC United corner kick. From this camera view, the ball does not appear to be on the corner arc.

There appears to be a creeping prevalence of players sneaking the ball closer to the penalty area from corner kicks on the Referee's side of the pitch. These are professional players, not junior players, who can supposedly drop the ball on a dime anywhere in the penalty area from a corner kick. So the matter of sneaking a few extra centimetres should be of no concern or benefit to them. And yet, this kind of incident occurs time and again. Why? Why do players sneak a few centimentres from corner kicks?

There are several reasons that can be proposed ... but this post will discuss one.

One possible reason comes exclusively from the Referee's perspective of how players behave with respect to Sportsmanship and with respect to the Laws of the Game. The Respect campaign attempts to tell players to respect opposing players and to respect match officials. For example, in a Champions League match we have seen Referee Jonas Eriksson tell players the following:

This is the word respect. Respect for the two teams between the players, and for the referees.

And yet, do players respect their opposition? And do players respect match officials, who are present to uphold the Laws? Hardly (see Education, Education, Education and Referees in Tune with Team Tactics, as examples of player behaviour).

In the competitive game, players do not give respect to opposing teams or to match officials. Granted, there are exceptions, but generally speaking players and coaches and fans just want their team to win ... and usually at any cost. They will contest and challenge every decision that goes against them, and they will accept every decision that comes their way ... with little or no regard to upholding Sportsmanship or complying with the Laws of the Game.

Observers can see this behaviour in action whenever the ball goes out of play. Players will yell out "corner" or "goal kick" depending on whether they are the attacking team or the defending team, respectively. They will claim it is their throw in when the ball crosses over the touch line (and also when the ball does NOT cross over the touch line). Where's the Sportsmanship? Where's the respect for the Laws of the Game?

So, let's get back to the question: Why do players sneak a few centimetres from corner kicks?

Answer: Because players go out there on the field of play with the unsporting and disrespectful attitude that every decision should be to their advantage with little reference to the play unfolding before them. If they can cheat their way into claiming a throw in or a corner kick, then this attitude logically lends itself to players sneaking a few centimetres at corner kicks even though, at the professional level, they do not gain any advantage from doing so. That's the disrespectful attitude of many players that match officials have to deal with all over the world.

As mentioned in a previous post, match officials:

have to rely on their resilience, tolerance, inner-strength and education to rise above the uncouth behaviour of players, managers, fans and commentators.

The best foundation for Referees is to ensure, and be seen to ensure, complete integrity, honesty and commitment to the Laws of the Game.

Stamp Out Stamping

The following incident occurred on the first day of the English Premier League 2011-2012 season during the Newcastle and Arsenal league match on Saturday 13 August 2011. The match finished 0—0.

Arsenal's Alex Song (red) stamps on Newcastle's Joey Barton (black). Pic from Reuters.

Referee Peter Walton (blue) apparently missed the incident even though at the time he was positioned nearby

None of the match officials (Referee Peter Walton and his team) apparently saw this incident, and the amount of ill feeling in the match manifested itself with 8 YCs and 1 RC. Since all match officials missed the incident this lends itself to a review of video evidence.

If the FA are to be consistent with cracking down on these nasty incidents, they will give Arsenal's Alex Song a three-match ban for his stamp on Newcastle's Joey Barton. A similar incident occurred last season where Birmingham's Lee Bowyer maliciously stamped on Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna (and where coincidentally Peter Walton was the match Referee).


Player Attitude, Gamesmanship and Dishonesty ...

Joey Barton (black) makes his feelings known to Alex Song (red, middle)

Shaking hands

... But then the players literally kiss-and-make-up. What's that all about?

Remember, Referees have to deal with complaints from players. And when the same players who have just been at loggerheads then exhibit this 'friendly' attitude, what are Referees to do? Perhaps this little blog can highlight the inconsistency, irrationality and immaturity of players.


Stamp Out Stamping (related posts)

Goalkeepers and Handling or Possession Rights

The following incident occurred during an MLS match between LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday 25 June 2011. The match finished 0—0.

In the 85th minute, an Earthquakes attacker (blue) kicks the ball towards the Galaxy goal. The goalkeeper Mike Magee—who was the third-choice keeper following an injury and a send-off, respectively, for LA Galaxy's first- and second-choice keepers—parries the ball with his hands and then gives up handling rights by kicking the ball a few times along the ground to the side of the penalty area. Then when an opponent (blue) attempts to challenge for the ball, Magee picks up the ball with his hands. Here are the freeze frames:

Has the goalkeeper (black) committed an offence?

The Referee (Juan Guzman) allowed play to continue. Furthermore, there was no outcry from commentators, coaches, players and fans. Did anyone at the match know the Laws of the Game? What is the correct decision here?

The Laws clearly state that: an indirect free kick should be awarded to the opposing team if a goalkeeper, inside his own penalty area, touches the ball again with his hands after he has released the ball from his possession and before it has touched another player.


Also, take a look at the third-choice goalkeeper's attire.

Galaxy goalkeeper Mike Magee is wearing a #12 shirt with #18 shorts

Magee, being an outfield player but made goalkeeper during the match, did not have the correct goalkeeper shorts but nevertheless perhaps some white tape to cover up the #18 could have been the minimum effort afforded to avoid any potential misunderstandings and complaints. In addition, in this day and age, it is perhaps inconceivable that a squad of professional soccer players does not possess spare goalkeeper shorts.


In summary, it was a challenging match for the referee, and it is a given that he learned many important lessons from this match. Referees who watch this match can also learn many valuable lessons.

Yes, It WAS Handball!

The following incident occurred during the Community Shield match between Manchester City and Manchester United on Sunday 7 August 2011. The final score was 2—3.

In the 94th minute, with the score deadlocked at 2—2, Manchester United's Wayne Rooney hooked the ball clear from the United penalty area. Here are the following freeze frames that led to Nani's winning goal:

An inevitable appeal for handball

Whenever the ball bounces up around players' waists and torsos, there is always the inevitable appeal for handball ... "Hands!" or "Handball!".

So, unsurprisingly there was a call for handball by Manchester City. From a Referee's perspective, the following should be considered:

1) Is the Referee positioned well enough to view the incident?
2) What has the Referee actually seen (and NOT what does the Referee think he saw or what does the Referee think the players' saw)
3) What is the reaction of the players contesting the ball?

Due to the nature of such breakaways, the Referee (Phil Dowd) is hard pushed to be in a good position. He certainly cannot see between the players and has no line of sight of the ball.

The Referee therefore cannot see any foul play (if any), and must either rely on his ARs to inform him of any incidents or allow play to continue.

Fortunately, the reaction of the defender (Vincent Kompany, blue) who lost out in the challenge for the loose ball tells everyone the story. Kompany continues to chase back and makes a last-ditch effort at attempting to stop Nani (red) from scoring.


Here are the freeze frames from a camera view that happened to have the optimum angle of the incident:

Fortunate for Nani (red), hard luck for Kompany (blue)

From the camera view, yes it was handball ... but it was Manchester City's Kompany who touched the ball with his hand and caused it to deflect down invitingly into the path of Nani. Although Nani's hands are up, the ball actually hits Nani's right knee and bounces up into Kompany's right arm, which is then knocked straight down for Nani to run on to.

Referees are not perfect. They can only do the best that they can in the heat of the moment. Referees do not have the luxury of checking multiple camera views; instead they have to make split-second decisions and then move on. Only after the match, can they reflect upon their performance and use that knowledge and experience to referee their next match.

Best of luck to all Referees out there who are preparing for their new season (and also to those who are in the midst of their current season). Keep up the great work.

Optimum Officiating: Tackling Time Wasting

The following incident occurred during the Asian Champions League second-leg quarterfinal match between reigning champions Pohang Steelers of South Korea and Zob Ahan of Iran on 22 September 2010. The match finished 1—1, with Zob Ahan winning 3—2 on aggregate.

After scoring in the 80th minute to make it 1—1, Zob Ahan needed to keep the score as is to advance to the semifinal stage. Referees need to stay focused and understand that time wasting is a natural tactic or “trick” adopted by teams to “run down the clock” (match reports here and here).

However, what happened in the 86th minute was excessive play-acting, as shown by the following freeze frames:

Referee Benjamin Williams from Australia exhibited good officiating and good patience when he cautioned Mahdi Rajabzadeh (white #30) for unsporting behaviour.

With the excessive amount of rolling exhibited by Rajabzadeh, it was clearly obvious that he could have easily rolled out of the field of play (the touchline was less than a yard away) to receive treatment. Instead, he insisted on being stretchered off. Since the stretcher-bearers at the stadium used golf carts, this incident became a farce when the player was put on a stretcher, lifted up on to the golf cart and then driven a couple of yards forward over the touch line and off the pitch.

For his unsporting behaviour, Rajabzadeh received his second caution of the game and therefore a red card. Perhaps players like Rajabzadeh who like to perform theatrics at the expense of others should be made to feel embarrassed by their childish behaviour.

Even Zob Ahan coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh admitted:

"If he was injured seriously there was nothing we can do about it but even for me, it was too much. I have to admit it. I think Rajabzadeh did the wrong thing.”

It's nice to hear coaches talking sense, but it would be even better if coaches showed that they genuinely mean what they say by taking action against their own players (i.e. with fines, reprimands).


Match Officials for Pohang Steelers (Kor) vs Zobahan (Iran)

Match Commissioner: Zachariah Joseph (Ind)
Referee Assessor : Samuel Chan Yam Ming (Hkg)
Referee : Benjamin Williams (Aus)
Assistant Referee 1 : Benjamin Wilson (Aus)
Assistant Referee 2: Denis Silk (Aus)
Fourth Official: Vo Minh Tri (Vie)


Related Post

Player's Theatrics

Suspect Referee Performance: Nigeria v Argentina

The following incidents occurred during the friendly match between Nigeria and Argentina on Wednesday 1 June 2011. The match finished 4—1.

There were two penalty decisions and I'll leave it to viewers (and to investigators of corruption) to decide whether something was suspect about Referee Ibrahim Chaibou's performance.

Nigeria 4-1 Argentina Friendly 01.06.11 (YouTube)



How would you rate the Referee's performance?


First Penalty
This actually looks half-credible but consider how easy it was for the Referee to give it. Look at the Referee's angle of view and now decide whether he actually saw the incident clearly.

What's the Referee thinking? $$$

Referee's non-standard positioning for a penalty kick

Second Penalty
The last goal of the match was highly suspect. There was 5 minutes of added time but the Referee continued after this and eventually in the 90+8 minute he awarded a penalty. He indicated the penalty was for handball, but even without replays it was clear no handball had occurred. Players were bemused and the Referee repeatedly indicated handball (more to convince himself than anyone else).

What's the Referee thinking? $$handball$$

Referee's non-standard positioning for a penalty kick (again)

SUMMARY

Much has been written about match fixing (among the best come from The Telegraph ... examples here, here and here), particularly from Asia. The reason is because in Asia there is a whole gamut of gambling options open (e.g. goals scored in first half, goals scored in second half, total goals scored) plus there are numerous betting outlets that help avoid alerting bookmakers in real time about significant swings in particular betting patterns.

After watching highlights of this match, I read a recent Telegraph story reporting that FIFA are indeed investigating this Nigeria and Argentina incident for match-fixing (news story here). Some quotes:

With Nigeria leading 4-0 there was a huge swing on some in-play gambling markets which appeared to anticipate a fifth goal.

With 90 minutes played referee Ibrahim Chaibou awarded five minutes of stoppage time but let play carry on until, in the eighth minute of additional play, he signalled a handball against Nigeria, awarding a penalty to Argentina.

Replays indicated the ball had hit one Nigerian player’s shin and diverted to another player, whom it hit in the stomach. The whistle appears to have been blown immediately after the ball hit the first player. Mauro Boselli, of Wigan, converted the penalty.

“With 86 minutes played the odds for over 4.50 [a fifth goal to be scored] were absolutely insane. The market was effectively saying it was odds against that there would be no more goals. It is hard to get an exact figure for how much would have been bet to force that kind of swing but we are certainly talking hundreds of thousands, possibly more than £1,000,000,” said Matthew Benham of SmartOdds, an online betting firm.

The referee involved, Chaibou, of Niger, was in charge of the Sept 7 friendly between Bahrain and a ‘fake’ Togo team, another game under Fifa investigation. That match was organised by Wilson Raj Perumal, a convicted match-fixer who is facing trial in a Lapland court after being charged with bribing players to fix games in the Finnish league. Telegraph Sport attempted to contact Chaibou last night but calls were not returned.

Related Post

China's Golden Whistle Admits Accepting US$44,000 Bribe

2011 Champions League Final: Enjoyable But Predictable

I thought the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United on Saturday 28 May 2011 was enjoyable but predictable because both teams played football the way they had been playing throughout the season. That is, they both have their own style of play (open free-flowing attacking football, generally) and they both persisted with their own styles for the final. The match finished 3—1.

Contrast this to any team that is managed by a coach like Jose Mourinho or similar. Such coaches understand the limitations of their own teams and can see the superiority of their opponents, and therefore choose to change the way they play so that they can change the way their superior opponents play. I am not saying that Mourinho's approach is wrong. Coaches are under heavy pressure to win and because of this oftentimes they feel they must win no matter how and at any cost. As a coach, whenever Mourinho's teams have come up against superior opponents, he will usually resort to using all the tricks in the book (and then some) to try to swing the pendulum back in favour of his own limited teams. We have seen this with Porto against Manchester United, Chelsea against Manchester United, Chelsea against Barcelona, Inter Milan against Barcelona, and Real Madrid against Barcelona. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the coach who uses cynical tactics to undermine superior opponents must also be answerable and responsible for promoting unsporting behaviour and gamesmanship.

Alex Ferguson chose not to do that in the Champions League Final, and that is why the match was both enjoyable and predictable. The superior footballing team won.

The Referee Viktor Kassai (Hungary) had a very good game and was helped by the fact that both teams wanted to play football. Here are some observations of some refereeing incidents:

Leniency
Kassai's style offers leniency to the matches he officiates. He does have a tendency to keep his cards in his pocket, and generally this is effective because his manner and management is excellent. The player that benefited the most from his leniency is Manchester United midfielder Antonio Valencia who committed at least 4 fouls in the first half. No cards came out in the first half. In the second half there were 4 cautions, 2 for each team.


Two "Handball" Penalty Claims
In the 10th minute, the ball struck United defender Patrice Evra's hand in the penalty area. This was not deliberate handball.

In the 78th minute, with United 3—1 down, United midfielder Ryan Giggs kicked the ball against Barcelona forward David Villa's hand in the penalty area, and then immediately appealed for a penalty. Again, this was not deliberate handball. Here are the freeze frames:

Notice the altered positioning of the Referee due to the presence of EARs.

The EAR has a great angle of view ... but did he assist the Referee?

Instead of continuing with his attacking move, Giggs tries to persuade Referee Kassai to give a penalty

In both handball appeals, the additional (extra) assistant referee (EAR) did not assist the Referee, and did not appear to assist the Referee. In fact, the redundancy and ineffectiveness of EARs was again evident for all to see during the final.


Player Leaving the Pitch Without Referee's Permission

In the second half, United defender Fabio injured himself during a goal-mouth scramble. As the ball is cleared away from United's penalty area, Fabio remains on the goal-line. He appears injured and wants treatment. However, play has continued (since, in the opinion of the Referee, Fabio does not have a serious injury or a head injury). Eventually, Fabio crosses over the goal-line and off the pitch to receive treatment.


Had Barcelona realised this, they could have played higher up the field because the second-last defender was now the goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar.

This is just a reminder of the reference to the Euro 2008 group match between Netherlands and Italy on Tuesday 10 June 2008. At that time, Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy scored what appeared to be an offside goal, but there was an Italian defender who was behind the goal-line. Much was written and discussed about that incident (see here and here).



SUMMARY

When coaches and teams play football without any cynicism, unsporting behaviour and gamesmanship (i.e. without any dirty tricks) the Referee's duties are relatively easier and there is more likelihood of the match being fair, safe and enjoyable.

However, when this does not happen, then that's when Referees earn their marks (and earn their keep). Furthermore, it does not make any sense for coaches, players, commentators and fans to blame Referees when the original source of what is wrong with the game is when teams use dirty tricks in the first place in an attempt to win at all costs. After all, no one in their right mind would blame the police or judges for attempting to curb and control the delinquent behaviour of individuals. Individuals should be responsible for their own behaviour. I wonder whether coaches and players will ever take responsibility whenever they use "dirty tricks" on the football pitch ... as opposed to the irresponsible option of always blaming Referees? This is just my two cents to help support, protect and promote Referees.

Thank you all for reading this blog.


Note: Isn't this a wonderful shot perspective?

Three world-class strikers (Hernandez #14, Messi #10, Rooney #10) standing in awe, staring at and recognizing perfection, which is Villa's curling shot that goalkeeper van der Saar cannot do anything about. Everyone knows that the ball is going in.