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Referee news (5): lies by referees (or not)

Referee news of week 5: A controversy about lies by referees about having judged match incidents. And an example where the video referee was used. But was it the correct call? Plus some stories about assistant referees on flip flops and “the big season” for Simon Haydon.

Mark Halsey has started a big discussion about lies by referees. Every referee has to submit his match report and write down incidents they have seen or situations they judged. On Twitter Halsey talked about the Aguero incident and if the referee could/should have seen it. It was in the Referee News of last week. Andre Marriner was in perfect position to judge the situation, was argued. Didn´t he really see it? Players can only receive a ban afterwards if the referee has not seen it. Halsey told on Twitter: “I have been in that situation when I have seen an incident and been told to say I haven’t seen it.”

Tweet by Mark Halsey about lies by referees.

“To be fair to the FA … it comes from within the PGMOL”, he said, referring to the organisation for professional referees in England. The PGMOL has stated that “there is no pressure [on referees] to include or omit anything”.

Use of the video assistant referee

Bjorn Kuipers was the first referee in European leagues to use the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). During the friendly game Italy – France he was advised froma van outside the stadium where Dutch Fifa referees Pol van Boekel and Danny Makkelie were watching the game. They could review every situations and communicate with Kuipers via his headseat.

First watch the situation below. What are your thoughts on the foul?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9zsDKFRjj4

My first idea after watching the situation below was: did he get advice from the VAR? You can’t see if the VAR says something on the headset. And yes, in the 4th minute Kuipers got some advice: “In the first of two incidences where my VAR addressed me by radio (in the fourth minute), the Italian players pressed me to show the red card to the French player,” said Kuipers on the Fifa site. “Chiellini for instance said: Rosso! After reviewing the scene, my VAR informed me nine or ten seconds later that it was sufficient to show the yellow card. The players immediately accepted my decision.”

I’m personally still surprised Kuipers is fine with a yellow card for such a tackle. What do you think of this situation?

In the US a match incident has also been reviewed. Check the inside/outside the box incident here.

Female referees in Oceania

OceaniaFootball has big news for female referees in their region. “New ground has been broken for female referees in the Oceania region, with New Zealand match officials Sarah Jones and Anna-Marie Keighley joining the list of match officials for the A-League (in Australia; Dutch Referee Blog) and New Zealand Premiership respectively.” Read the full story.

Anna-Marie Keighley recently officiated at the Olympics. She gave you all 3 tips top become a better referee.

Big season for not so-Fat Ref

Simon Haydon, who’s on twitter as Fat Ref, has put a lot of effort in becoming more physically fit. “Losing a large amount of weight over the past year has been the key factor in becoming a better referee – and a healthier human – and I feel a lot lighter on my feet while reffing”, he blogged in a recent story on his website. After 14 years of refereeing he has a big opportunity this season. “And finally, after all those years, I’ve got my act together enough to be reasonably close to getting myself to being promoted to Level 5.”

Read the full story on Simon’s blog

Assistant referee on flip-flops

Rodric Leerling is a Dutch referee who blogs in English. It’s worth following his blog as well. In one of his recent experiences on the pitch he worked with club assistant referees. After half-time the AR who helped in the first half was replaced by another. “After 3 minutes in second half I suddenly noticed he was wearing flip-flops with white socks”, Leerling wrote. “Unbelievable. How could I not have noticed that?” My question for you: would you allow a club assistant referee to wear flip-flops?

Check the full story from Rodric and please take a look around on his website.

One Comment

  • Brian Duddy

    What are you going to do to the club AR, send him back to the sidelines where he was to begin with and withold his match fee of $0.00? As long as he can move up and down the sideline, he can wear whatever footwear he wants.

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