Question Number: 29600

League Specific 8/12/2015

RE: Adult

Anatol of Lunca la Tisa, Roumania asks...

Hello, decisions were correct ?http://www.digisport.ro/Sport/FOTBAL/Competitii/Liga+1/VIDEO+SONDAJ+Doua+goluri+anulate+Stelei+in+prima+repriza+Au+fost

Thank you for your time!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Anatol
Thanks for your question.
On the first foul decision I would have little difficulty with the referees decision. It looked like the scorer clearly has his arms on the back of the defender and that he pushes him over.
On the offside decisions the game has taken place under the new Offside interpretation which came into force on the 17th July 2015. The interpretation now states that a player in an offside position shall also be penalised if he:
#clearly attempts to play a ball which is close to him when this action impacts on an opponent or
# makes an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball
# 'clearly attempts' – this wording is designed to prevent a player who runs towards the ball from quite a long distance being penalised (unless he gets close to the ball).
# 'close' is important so that a player is not penalised when the ball goes clearly over his head or clearly in front of him.
# 'impact' applies to an opponent's ability (or potential) to play the ball and will include situations where an opponent's movement to play the ball is delayed, hindered or prevented by the offside player.
On Offside 1 with the benefit of video replay I could deem that the goal should have stood. My reasoning on that is that not all three conditions were present. In particular the player in an offside position makes no attempt to play the ball. However from a side on view by the assistant referee it could have looked like the player impacted on the defender hence the flag.
On the 2nd offside goal in my opinion it could also have been allowed. Now from the video I am unsure if the first header was the one that was called offside or the second? Also was the player in front of the scorer in an offside position? It looks like none were at any time in an offside position. Certainly the scorer was not. I suspect that offside was given for the first header and that would have been a tight call in real time and it could have looked offside from the ARs viewpoint.
On the foul I believe it was the correct decision. The red defender misses the ball with his kick and then due to his position can only hold back the White attacker which is a foul. If Red kicked the ball then no offence and many I think believe that Red played the ball.
On the incident involving the goalkeeper I think the referee at speed would not have known what happened. It will have looked like a coming together between the players challenging for the ball. With the benefit of action replay and slow motion we can see that it was a raised hand into the head which could have been a dismissal. Unfortunately with so much play acting and feigning injury referees can be unsure if there is excessive contact or not and the type of contact. Personally I think the referee from his angle of view would not have seen the hand nor perhaps the AR. In the circumstances the referee went with a caution which was all that he could do in my opinion. If he had seen what we saw in the video then the decision would have been different.

As a final point please remember that the referee and assistants do not have the luxury of multiple angles, slow motion, freeze frame etc. In real time a decision has to be made which is part of the game. From the luxury of an armchair it is always significantly easier.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Anatol,
correct as a decision by the match referee concerning a fact of play can be ,his match, his decision, his reputation!

Steaua's two disallowed goals in the first half were unfortunate, but I have no sympathy for the 1st one, the 2nd offside disallowed goal I thought was a bit unlucky! The first one was not too difficult to see for me to make an armchair call given It looks likely he climbed into and up the back of the defender BEFORE he headed the ball. Easy foul in my opinion

The second disallowed goal there is no doubt of the offside position but there was wiggle room to doubt the player was in fact INVOLVED.
I do not believe he touched the ball or truly interfered with the defender by challenging. That though is only a personal opinion. I think if we remove the offside player that goal scores!
Still by moving towards the goal/ball looking to get involved, the CLEARLY offside positioned player presented a less than clear decision to the officials as he MIGHT have interfered with either the ball grazed it when jumping or the defender by being close enough to challenge and perhaps upset his timing and thus the referee/AR went with their opinion! Guess which opinion matters? lol

The offside decision in the 75th minute was suspect in my opinion. I saw nothing to convince me it was not a legitimate goal. There were offside positions but they were not specific to stopping play. Those who were offside were not offside positioned on the FINAL touch across the goal when the last determination of involvement was required. Again though my opinion was not the one that matters.

The PK was a clear PK! He charged into the attacker, then went to the ball

Yellow card for Budescu was fortunate for the silly slap across the face! I think most referees go with a straight red card for VC of a useless, provocative, excessive violent action. Keeper had the ball, striker needed to turn away the strike albeit not hard was dangerous (finger in eye possibility) and most importantly this strike was was not accidental off a challenge. Keeper did make a bigger meal of it then necessary though!

Keep in mind the fact the reason we usually agree with the foul decisions but have difficulty with the offside decisions is the ability to stop play and isolate movement with freeze frame footage! One can make accurate spatial comparisons where things are yes or no, not a speculative decision in a split second of judgement, I believe close offside decisions and deliberate handling to be the two most incorrectly made calls on he pitches of the world. A referee with integrity sees what he sees, even if others see it different
Cheers