Question Number: 34232

Mechanics 5/23/2021

RE: Pro Adult

Crebs Crem of Zagreb , Croatia asks...

This question is a follow up to question 34230

Thank you very much for your answers.

Dear Mr. Dawson,
I am sorry that my question was not very clear. I actually assumed that the foul by blue team is not a violent conduct but rather a late tackle or any other infringement which deserves no sending-off at all. I also assumed that both the foul by blue team and foul by red team inside reds' penalty area were missed by all the match officials on the pitch, not only the head referee.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Creb,
no big deal, no reason to be sorry just when we assume things it can be a variety of options that MIGHT fit! With VAR (because it is a neutral overseer) they can pinpoint a true missed SFP or VC or catch a blatantly missed foul or even a ball out into touch and that info can be relayed to the CR to correct or fix a mistake or undo an injustice. Grassroots can only deal with things if those officiating actually catch them. Var was realistically created to ignore the mundane but catch obvious critical incident errors.

Are you seeking the thought process of just how far back a referee might go to consider if the team scoring should not be allowed to benefit by the breaking of the LOTG?

You mention a late tackle being overlooked with no card needed, instead, let's say the blue player was offside or had deliberately handled the ball by punching it to a teammate which leads to a PK opportunity in their favour also overlooked and an eventual goal Should the time involved and the fact the red team had some ball possession cancel out the fact the ball should be in reds possession for a free kick? In truth technically a referee can restart the match for any legitimate reason including an event UNSEEN & UNKNOWN by the referee that preceded the reason why the stoppage occurs. In your case, the blue goal.

The review process should be completed as efficiently as possible, but the accuracy of the final decision is more important than speed. For this reason, and because some situations are complex with several reviewable decisions/incidents, there is no maximum time limit for the review process

For decisions/incidents relating to goals, penalty/no penalty and red cards for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO), it may be necessary to review the attacking phase of play which led directly to the decision/incident this may include how the attacking team gained possession of the ball in open play.

For factual decisions e.g. position of an offence or player (offside), point of contact (handball/foul), location (inside or outside the penalty area), ball out of play etc. a VAR-only review is usually appropriate but an ‘on-field review’ (OFR) can be used for a factual decision if it will help manage the players/match or ‘sell’ the decision (e.g. a crucial match-deciding decision late in the game)

The referee can request different cameras angles/replay speeds but, in general, slow motion replays should only be used for facts, e.g. position of offence/player, point of contact for physical offences and handball, ball out of play (including goal/no goal) normal speed should be used for the ‘intensity’ of an offence or to decide if it was a handball offence

Final decision
When the review process is completed, the referee must show the ‘TV signal’ and communicate the final decision

The referee will then take/change/rescind any disciplinary action (where appropriate) and restart play in accordance with the Laws of the Game

The VAR categories of decision/incident which may be reviewed in the event of a potential ‘clear and obvious error’ or ‘serious missed incident’ are:

a. Goal/no goal

attacking team offence in the build-up to or scoring of the goal (handball, foul, offside etc.)

ball out of play prior to the goal

goal/no goal decisions

b. Penalty kick/no penalty kick

attacking team offence in the build-up to the penalty incident (handball, foul, offside etc.)

ball out of play prior to the incident

penalty kick offence not penalised

Direct red cards (not second yellow card/caution)

DOGSO (especially position of offence and positions of other players)

serious foul play (or reckless challenge)

violent conduct, biting or spitting at another person

using offensive, insulting or abusive gestures

Mistaken identity (red or yellow card)
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Crebs
The   period of time after an incident occurs when a review can be initiated must be limited to avoid other significant events taking place and then being overturned.   
If play has stopped and a reviewable incident may have happened, the referee must not allow the restart to be taken until a decision to review or not has been made.
If play continues and the referee suspects something important has been missed or the VAR recommends a review, the referee must stop play as soon as it is in a "neutral situation" which could be around half way or in a place where it in unlikely to lead to a promising attack.

In your scenario the referee would be entitled to let play proceed until a natural stoppage or to when the ball gets to a neutral zone. As that had not happened and the ball had been lost and regained which indeed resulted in a goal then no VAR review is required. If however there was an incident in that period of play leading up to the goal which merited a card then play could not restart until that review is completed. The review would only deal with the misconduct.