Introduction

Random and unofficial insights and happenings at Football Tournaments nationally from the officials perspective

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Olympics Final - It's Clattenburg

Just released, here's the FA announcement - well deserved, congrats and good luck team GB.

Update: Foxtel in Australia has it live on Saturday 11 August, 11:50pm AEST on channel 187, should make for good late night viewing.  Or if you don't have any games Sunday, repeated at 8:20am and 12:35pm, channel 185

Applying the LOTG

So the Canada -v- USA Women's Olympic game was a cracker by all accounts, and not without its own level of drama surrounding application of the Laws of the Game.  I didn't see the match and working off online reports, here's my take.

Referee Christina Pedersen, a Norwegian referee awarded a IDFK to USA due to the Canadian goalkeeper exceeding the six second rule.

Photo: afterellen.com
To quote the LOTG
"A goalkeeper is not permitted to keep control of the ball in his hands for more than six seconds.  A goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball:
  • while the ball is between his hands or between his hand and any surface(e.g. ground, own body)
  • while holding the ball in his outstretched open hand
  • while in the act of bouncing it on the ground or tossing it into the air
Restart of play - indirect free kick from the position where the offense occurred"
 According to online reports, the goalkeeper was verbally warned twice (depending upon which reports you read) about this infringement by the referee / or assistant referee and still choose to hold / control the ball in excess of the six seconds.  Canada was 3-2 at the time of the decision, draw your own conclusions about what the goalkeeper was thinking.

Regardless, the referee awarded the IDFK in 78th minute and directly following a penalty decision was called for handball when the USA kicked the ball directly against a Canadian defender.  The penalty was scored and extra time was then taken, USA scoring in the dying seconds, winning the match 4-3.

The media has been in a frenzy over what is actually correct by the LOTG and other media reports have indicated that even on video replay the goalkeeper held the ball for 10 seconds.  Regardless it did change the course of the match and the outcome for Finals.

Here's some other reported links, all Canadian - The Star, The Globe and Mail

Following the match and comments made by the Canadians, FIFA today has indicated it'll wait until following the Bronze game to apply any sanctions - My San Antonio

It's an interesting reflection on the game in its professional -v- amateur status.  The media has made much of pointing to a lack of application of this section of Law 12 in professional leagues for several years.  Why is this the case, when weekly you can see goal keepers taking all the time in the world to put the ball back into play?
Does the lack of application come from elite referees being told to ignore this aspect due to its disruptive / interfering aspect in the flow of a match, with the referee attempting to not be seen / heard during the match?  Or is it just a forgotten part of law?
What do you think?

Applying this at a local Div 6 level Sunday league football may draw questions from players and abuse from uninformed spectators, but everyone will accept it as a part of the game.

The keeper cannot hold the ball longer than 6 seconds - why, because FIFA wants to ensure that the game is played quickly and fairly.  Doesn't anyone remember the time before this section was added to the LOTG and how much time was spent watching the keeper "hold" the ball?  The game is now quicker and more engaging for spectators, those same who are quick to post negative comments online.
The IDFK is applied to address the offense and potentally ensure that the keeper doesn't reoffend.

Unfortunately for Christina, the circumstances following that correct decision went against the natural outcome of the match.  This then created the entry point for the media to be critical of several incidents and create the "who's to blame" culture, in this case the referee (as normal). In my opinion, the focus is incorrect - look to the goal keeper who didn't follow the rules, not the person applying them.

Strangely, the human impact of this "sporting moment" is what makes our game great.

And if you happen to see a six second voliation this weekend, will you be as brave as Christina to apply the LOTG?




Monday, August 6, 2012

Peter Walton in the headlines

Evening,

Catching up on some of my regular referee sites / blogs and found this Pitch Invasion blog / podcast,  featuring in episode 7 Peter Walton, ex-EPL referee now General Manager of the North American Professional Referees Organisation (PRO), a newly created role / structure to develop USA referees. 

Peter and myself, Kanga Cup 2010
Peter was a Kanga Cup special guest / referees mentor in 2010 and U/11 Referee - yes, Peter filled in on a midweek game at UC when someone didn't show, heading out onto a Small Sided game in his Air Asia tacksuit. I was reliabily told the parents were more excited about the referee than the 10yo players.

The podcast by Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore covers the following topics with Peter.
Structures, professional US referees, future vision, best practice, culture of football, some Olympic insights, Womens refereeing in USA.

Give it a listen

Peter also gave a web interview to ESPN earlier in July, also worth a look

And there was a web conference / Q&A in March hosted by USSoccer if you want even more.


Olympic Semi Finals Appointments

Afternoon everyone,

Here's the semi final appointments for the Olympics.  I have no idea if the Australian crew are still involved, given there is only the final to be announced, but here's hoping.  If anyone has the inside scoop would love to know.

07.08.2012 | 17:00 | México vs Japan - Foxtel has it at 2:05am Wednesday AEST, channel 189

Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
4th Referee Bakary Gassama (GAM)

07.08.2012 | 19:45 |Republic de Korea vs Brasil - Foxtel has it following at 4:35am, Wednesday AEST, channel 189 (live coverage)

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant 2: Antonin Kordula (CZE)
4th Referee Mark Geiger (USA)


Goodluck to all the crews involved.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Vic HAL Panels - FFV Article cross post

Thanks to Brenton for the FB cross post, here's the FFV announcement of HAL panels for Victorians.  Congrats to Shaun, Brenton and Lucien on promotion to Refs panel, great to see Victoria bringing their best to the fore.

Qld HAL Panels released

Evening,

Here's a link from Football Qld on the newly released HAL panels for 2012/2013.  Congratulations everyone, great to see Kanga alumni on here.  Well done also to FQ for making this public in a timely fashion

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Recognition.....

Hey everyone,
Just catching up on a posting from FB (thanks Jeremy for posting this) about a article that appeared locally in Auckland Football Federations web site about the NZ Refs who attended Kanga and the other exchanges that have taken place this year. 

Had a quick look about the other states represented (including my own) and nothing on their web sites celebrating the achievements of Academy referees. 

Recognition of positive achievement of today's youth is a essential step for any youth focused organisation. 

And through the process of developing today's referees, all referee bodies are youth organisations - most start looking for referees at 13-14 (partly to cover junior games with small monetary value, but also to allow time for development).  Bodies look to promote talent just after they come of age at 18 and hope to have them on pathways (State / National Titles) by the late teens / early 20's.  For evidence, just look at Jarred Gillet,  a 25yo ALeague Grand Final Referee, grown locally in Brisbane through this type of process.

Go back just five years ago and the age of the Grand Final referee was 35 (Matthew Breeze) and back to 2005, first year of ALeague, 31yo Mark Shields. 

A conclusion then could be drawn that the future of refereeing is younger referees, empowered with high quality assessors / coaches / instructors, positive development pathways and elite level funding for fitness / coaching requirements to match the increasingly professional levels of football played locally / regionally.  This isn't a revoluntary statement - the highest performers have always been the youngest, brightest.  Just look at our Olympic athletes.  There will still be a place for the older guard (including myself there now), who still have something to offer the 95% of the football community that isn't at the top of the pile - Metro 6 here I come again this week, happy in my role / service to football.

Anyway, back on point... what referees body in Australia, in any sport, cannot afford to nuture and support their juniors with positive press, even if its internal?

The old school would say that the referee is best not seen / heard, allowing the game to flow and only intervene when fair play has been taken away.  And by extension that this applies to all aspects of the game, including celebrating achievements post tournament. 

Well that was the past folks and its time to enter the digital age. Mark modelled this when he started doing positive media on HAL referees performances this past season, both online and in TV media and he is not alone, but there are few who are embracing the new social media world of 24 hr tweets, FB posts, Youtube videos of match events.

FB recently began using media in a new way for senior coaching.  Taking selected sections from its internal Football Brisbane TV service (online streaming of top local games weekly), coaching nights have become very relevant to the members for both teachable moments / discussions and pats on the back of a situation / event in the match well handled.  Recognition at its best and innovative.

What is your body / branch doing socially?

Are they embracing "Y" gen and what they bring and demand of today's refereeing body?

Recognition is now a meal best served hot and quickly, just like junk food they eat at half time





Full Time Spain -v- Morocco

Thats it, 0-0 result in what looked like soggy underfoot conditions but nice afternoon sunlight in Manchester.

Busy afternoons work for the Aussie crew, 23 fouls and 9 offside decisions, and just the three yellows from the first half and on balance a fair result for both teams.  Spain did have one or two clear cut chances that they couldn't convert, but perhaps is indicitative of their performance at London.

Nice moment caught by the cameras as they walked off, with Pim Verbeek saying something to the guys and smiles all round - Pim was formerly Socceroos coach and no doubt knows Ben and the guys well. 

Perhaps he was wishing them well on appointments into the next round.  And as do I as I sign off for tonight and hope to bring you more coverage in Knockout round.

Goodnight

Half time Spain -v- Morocco

Rain pouring down at Manchester, Old Trafford.  Shame the crowd doesn't look like a big one, but the occasion must be excellent being in that famous stadium.

Even match so far, no score, two cautions to Spain, one to Morocco and several offside decisions given both ways. 
AR1 Matthew Cream
AR2 Haken Anaz
4th Wilmar Roldan (Columbia)

Keep it up in the rain boys.  Just like a Canberra or Melbourne Saturday afternoon game, given the conditions

More updates on the FIFA site for those not able to watch.

20 minutes...

20 minutes in
2 free kicks given, one each
Both AR's involved early with easy offside decisions

Ben looking comfortable and fit, using his quickness to cover the ground well

Ben Williams Spain -v- Morocco

Time for a bit of live blogging as Ben and the Aussie crew take control of their 2nd match of London 2012 Olympics,

Nice day in Manchester by the looks at kickoff

8 minutes gone, two offside decisions easy for AR2 - now sure who is on which side, but will update as I find out

Live TV coverage on Foxtel 185 Olympics #2 channel or BBC 4 Olympics channel if watching in UK