Passing on the Backpass Rule

The following incidents occurred during the EPL match between Liverpool and Bolton on Saturday 27 August 2011. The match finished 3—1.


Incident One: Handball outside Penalty Area

In the 44th minute, with Liverpool leading 1—0, Bolton's Gretar Rafn Steinsson (white #2) deliberately handled the ball.


Obviously, Liverpool players claimed it was inside the penalty area and wanted a penalty. Referee Probert had a clear and unobstructed view to make his call. It was a great call.


Incident Two: Foul inside Penalty Area

In the 47th minute with Liverpool leading 1—0, Bolton's Zat Knight used his hand to bring down Liverpool's Luis Suarez in the penalty area.

If Referee Lee Probert did not believe it was a penalty, should he have cautioned Suarez for simulation?

Zat Knight gives a cheeky smile when he realizes he got away with his sneaky swipe on Luis Suarez

The fact that Referee Probert did nothing, especially since Suarez was claiming a penalty, demonstrates poor officiating.


Incident Three: Backpass

In the 74th minute with Liverpool leading 3—0, Bolton's Paul Robinson kicks the ball back to his goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, who handles the ball.

Bolton defender Robinson (white) deliberately kicks the ball back to his goalkeeper (orange)

Again, the fact that Referee Probert did nothing demonstrates poor officiating.


SUMMARY

If a Referee sees an incident and incorrectly interprets the Law (e.g. Mike Jones and the Beach Ball incident), then that is considered a major blunder.

Lee Probert saw a Bolton defender kick the ball, deliberately, to his goalkeeper, who then handled the ball (Incident Three). But Lee Probert did not consider this to be a backpass. It will be interesting to know what Probert's response is to the match assessor about this incident (just as it would be interesting to know what Mike Jones' response was to the Beach Ball incident). Unfortunately, it is unlikely these responses will ever be made public.

In addition, Referee Probert saw an incident in the penalty area (Incident Two) but did not do anything. This again shows an incorrect interpretation of the Law.

So, did Lee Probert have a good game?

According to ex-EPL Referee Graham Poll:

"Probert was excellent in refereeing Liverpool’s win over Bolton. There was a borderline handball by Steinsson right on the edge of the penalty area. Probert was perfectly positioned to see that the offence was just outside – a great call."

In isolation, yes Incident One was a great call. But in the context of the match, did Probert get the big calls right? Did Probert interpret the Laws correctly? Incidents Two and Three showed that Probert performed unsatisfactory, particularly because he is a professional referee who sets the benchmark for the rest of us.

Circuitous Ceremonial Free Kick

Avoid the Ampersand … &!

The following incident occurred during the EPL match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspurs on Sunday 28 August 2011. The match finished 5—1.

In the 21st minute with the score at 0—0, a free kick is awarded to Tottenham Hotspurs. Referee Phil Dowd takes at least 30 seconds to complete the ceremonial free kick procedure. Here are the freeze frames purposely shown in reverse:

Dowd's Doodle … tracing the Referee's route in reverse

Dowd's circuitous movement (in reverse) is like slowly tracing the & sign.

Draw the Ampersand in the opposite direction to the arrows (orange), and you will get Dowd's Doodle

If anyone who has ever tried to draw the & sign in reverse, they will immediately realize that it is painfully excruciating to execute … let alone watch being executed!

Granted, there is no time limit to setting up walls at ceremonial free kicks but the whole process could have been shortened. For instance, after giving clear instructions to the players in the wall, Dowd could have simply taken the direct route back to his final position but instead he walked back across the wall of players and back towards the left side of the ball and then came back across the ball to his final position.




HKRef Tip: Avoid the Ampersand … & ... (aka avoid attempting Dowd's Doodle)!

Player Behaviour: Acceptance and Dishonesty

Let's be honest and state for the record that in the main footballers are dishonest. However, once in a while it is also a delight to observe a player behaving graciously in the face of injustice.

The following incident occurred in the opening minutes of an MLS match between Real Salt Lake and New England Revolution on Independence Day 2011. The match finished 3—3.

In the 3rd minute, Referee Yader Reyes sent off Real Salt Lake defender Nat Borchers for what the Referee deemed to be DOGSO. Here are the freeze frames:

Real Salt Lake's Nat Borchers (red #6) connects with the ball and then New England Revolution's Benny Feilhaber (white #22) kicks Borchers' leg and falls over

And here is the Referee's position at the time of the incident:

Does Referee Yader Reyes (yellow) have a good clear and near view of the incident?

The Referee's position at that moment of the incident should tell us that a decisive call would have been very tricky to make. Unless the Referee was 100% certain of what he saw, a penalty call and subsequent DOGSO decision would always be controversial. The Referee would have had to have had a clear and unobstructed view between the players and to be able to see the ball too.

Furthermore, the least that the AR could have done was to give assistance based on his view of the incident ... unless of course prior to the match the Referee had briefed his AR not to interfere with his decisions in the penalty area.

This means the players involved in the actual incident are the ones who most likely know what happened. Borchers should be commended for accepting the Referee's decision with good grace, calmness (in the face of incredulity) and little fuss. If we compare the behaviour of his teammate goalkeeper Nick Rimando, there is a marked difference between how these two players reacted to and accepted the Referee's decision.

Real Salt Lake's Nat Borchers (red) accepts the Referee's decision graciously, whereas goalkeeper Nick Rimando (black) does not

The other concerned party who knew what happened is New England Revolution forward Benny Feilhaber. Feilhaber knows he dithered too long to take his shot, and because of that allowed Borchers the opportunity to sneak in and kick the ball from underneath him and up onto his face, which then went over the goal line for what should have been a goal kick. Feilhaber, by letting the Referee's wrong decision stand, is therefore guilty of dishonesty. He knew his opponent was wrongly being sent off, and did not say anything to keep things honest and fair. Isn't Fair Play meant to be encouraged? Apparently not.

Benny Feilhaber (white) sympathizes with Nat Borchers (red) but that's as far as he is willing to go in terms of "Fair Play"

NOTE: the prime example of recent times of Unfair Play is Thierry Henry's deliberate handball when France played Ireland in a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier. At that time, Henry kept quiet so that his team would benefit from his deliberate unsporting act and only the day after, after being put under continuous media scrutiny, did Henry later admit to his unsporting behaviour and apologise for his deliberate handball (which didn't mean much, if you ask any Irish supporter).

Thierry Henry's deliberate handball which helped France qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals at the expense of the Republic of Ireland (see link here)

Players who cheat and who deliberately allow a player to get sent off should be publicly reprimanded, and perhaps fined by their clubs, as a way to deal with unsporting behaviour that is out of the control of match officials. If FIFA and other competition organisers are serious about promoting Fair Play, then the culprits should be identified and then publicly named and shamed.

I was not able to watch the whole MLS match; however in spite of that, it is not difficult to sense that perhaps the Referee had lost a lot of credibility during the match as a result of that dubious decision. There was 6YC and 2RCs meted out in total.

The only silver lining from this incident was the gracious behaviour of Nat Borchers.

Assistant Referees and Blind Spots

The following incident was missed during the EPL match between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs on Monday 22 August 2011. The match finished 3—0.

In the 87th minute, an offside decision was missed during a Manchester United throw in. Subsequently, a goal was scored (United's third goal by Wayne Rooney) which brings, or should bring, some concern to match officials who wish to avoid such situations from happening in future.

Throw in to Manchester United (red), who are attacking Tottenham Hotspurs' goal

The thower is in an offside position when the ball is played forward by his teammate

ARs should be especially careful when play is close and right in front of them. It is a challenge to keep in line with the second-last defender and to keep a perspective of the situation unfolding in front of them. With play so close, the situation can be likened to a potential "blind spot" … since it is difficult to focus and see clearly when something is happening right in front of our eyes.

HKRef Tip: Perhaps the AR should try to stand a few yards back from the touch line and keep in line with the second-to-last defender.