“Football video referee next season in Dutch Eredivisie”

KNVB President Michael van Praag expects that the video referee will be introduced in football in The Netherlands next season. That’s what the chairman of the Dutch Football Organisation said when he gave a speech at the referee association in Groningen.

Michael van Praag (photo) wants a video referee.The Dutch FA has used the video referee already as a test. “The video referee was somewhere in a van with a few good screens just outside stadium. He has a headset and has, like the assistant referees, a direct connection with the referees”, Van Praag explains how the system works in newspaper Dagblad van het Noorden. That means the video referee can check the video footage and tell the referee if it is a yellow or red card. “And for example if it’s a penalty kick. The referee can base his decision on the video referee’s advice.”

Good idea or not?

“Video referee needs to decide: inside or outside box”

The video referee is not (yet) introduced in the biggest footall competitions. But Jamie Carragher wants that to change. The former Liverpool defender says that a video referee needs to decide wether a free kick is inside or outside the penalty area. “That is a massive decision”, he told on BBC’s Match of the Day.

Carragher thinks it would be a good idea when play would be stopped after a referee has decided that it was a foul. Then it would be up to the video referee to tell the center referee if the offence occured inside or outside the box. “That would be the next step for goal-line technology.”

Jamie Carragher on the video referee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFWNuZ99hbY

The most recent match where such a situation occurred was the Spanish derby between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Referee Christiano Ronaldo a penalty kick, but the offence happened about 20 centimeters outside the penalty area. Ronalda scored from the spot, but ‘el Classico’ ended in a 2-3 win for Barcelona. Eventhough the Real players were very lucky in this situation, they felt the need to complain about other decision from referee Undiano Mallenco. Sergio Ramos and Christiano Ronaldo were going too far, says the Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). The organisation has sent a complaint about it to the Spanish Football Association RFEF.

Watch the match situation with Ronaldo and the penalty kick:

Check out how goal-line technology works.

A video referee who takes initiative

Umpire Peter Wright caused a lot of confusion among the players during the hockey match between New Zealand and The Netherlands for the 3rd place in the Champion’s Trophy.

The video referee got to answer the question whether the ball has touched a Dutch foot, which is not allowed in field hockey. The South African match official took some initiative and also told the umpires on the pitch that the ball was out just before the ball has touched a Dutch foot.

And that’s what he wasn’t supposed to do. In field hockey a team can call for a video referee just once and when they got it right, they still keep that opportunity. About the same as the hawk-eye system in tennis, only with less opportunities. The Dutch team should have questioned if the ball has crossed the line. They did not, so the referee shouldn’t investigate the situation.

The field referees called for a goal kick, which eventually was the correct decision. That’s what refereeing is about. Right?