Question Number: 35292

Other 12/21/2023

RE: Pro College

Dhruv of New Delhi , Delhi INDIA asks...

Did Messi handball deserved a card ? Did Van Dijk deserved red card for chest bumping parades intentionally(he didn't even receive a yellow)? Without being bias Parades did deserved a card for foul but there is no rule for how to clear the ball. Why other players didn't receive card who got involved in tussel during Parades incident? If Parades incident was unsporting then other player from Netherlands also deserved card for unsporting behaviour

( Argentina vs Netherlands) 2022 fifa wc

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dhruv
Thanks for the question
This was the infamous World Cup quarter final between Argentina and the Netherlands which Argentina won on penalties. There were 18 cautions issued in the game which is a record.

As to the two incidents you refer to here is my opinion.
On the Messi handling the incident happened at the half way line. Not all deliberate handling is a caution and a referee has to consider whether a player handles the ball to interfere with or stop a promising attack.
The referee on the day had it seems just signalled advantage to Argentina which really did not materialise with an interception by a Netherlands player. The lob past Messi which he handled was somewhat insignificant in a game context although the handling itself was blatant. I would think that the possible advantage may have influenced the referee’s decision and taking all into account he considered that it did not merit a card. He could be seen explaining his decision to Van Dijk the Netherlands captain at the time and also listening to Messi who could have been looking to go back to the original foul?
Now the incident caused a lot of furore at the time as Messi got a caution later in the game for dissent which would have resulted in a red card had he been already cautioned. Who knows what Messi would have done if he was already on a card. Plus did the referee think that this game was turning into a card fest?
It did not look good that there was no card yet I respect the referee’s decision on the day. Conspiracy theories abound which is naive. Even Messi complained about the referee after the game!

On the second incident Parades had come on as a substitute and he had made a number of rash foul challenges. Van Dijk took exception to that particular challenge and perhaps the ball being deliberately kicked into the technical area and as you say he chest bumped Parades knocking him to the ground. By that stage there had been 8 cards issued.
In my opinion you are correct in that the Van Dijk contact on Parades deserved a card yet there is probably not enough there for the contact to be considered brutality or excessive force for violent conduct. He may have caught Parades off balance which is why he went to ground. I doubt Parades would have been put to ground if he was prepared for it. I probably though could not see Parades staying on and Van Dijk getting sent off or for that matter both getting sent off.
Another consideration was that Parades had kicked the ball into the Netherlands technical area which in itself could have been a card on its own plus had it made contact with a player it could have been a dismissal. The infamous Rivaldo incident in 2002 against Turkey springs to mind.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h7bLC0jyBL4&pp=ygUlRnVsbCBnYW1lIGFyZ2VudGluYSB2IHRoZSBuZXRoZXJsYW5kcw%3D%3D

I also agree that there needed to be more cards issued here not just the Parades one. The advice in UEFA CL games is that there should be additional cautions in such mass confrontation situations.

Now the World Cup is somewhat of a unusual tournament. There is a balancing act between showcasing the game plus dealing with sponsors, national governments and the viewing public who want to see the best players in the world competing.
Referees are coached and tutored daily by the FIFA Referee Technical group as to what are the policies and how games should be managed for the duration of the tournament. I believe that after the WC in Germany when 326 cautions and 28 dismissals were issued that there was a policy change to get referees to reduce card numbers and only card for egregious conduct rather than carding every typical card incident.
In Brazil the card total had fallen to 181 cautions and in Russia to 221 cautions and 4 dismissals.

So I suspect that the Spanish referee Lahoz who was in Russia for that WC and now in Qatar may have been following policy? I don’t really know yet while that policy may work in the WC tournament in general overall there are games when it is just not effective and match control eventually gets lost.
This was one of those games along with Portugal v the Netherlands in 2006.

In summary Referee Lahoz did not come out too well for his management of this game and there were a lot of negative comments about decisions made, not made plus the 18 cards and 1 red card. It was his last game in the tournament.
It is never easy when team discipline evaporates and a referee tries to get the toothpaste back in the tube.
The lesson is to not allow it to get to that in the first instance.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Dhruv,
Messi is indeed a icon in the sport of football, however, in this case, the rational for showing a yellow card for a frustration foul given the referee had just signaled advantage in Argentina's favor, was likely at best only a passing consideration. Lets face it the referee was not having the easiest match of his career with these two teams

Messi 's impulse to react and use his hand to stop the play was because Van Dijk participation looked to have nullified the advantage. Messi was making that case, it was not a cynical professional foul stopping a counter-attack because Argentina was in advantage play that was not truly advantageous and the original foul in Argentina's favour should then be brought back. Nor was he trying to score as he basically had stopped his forward progress and quit playing even before the whistle!

While it is conceivable that if Messi had not deliberately handled the ball the referee MIGHT has seen the advantage went unrealized and could have whistled to punish the previous foul in favor of Argentina anyways. The fact that Messi chose to deliberately touch the ball on his own merit, rather than allow the referee decide to whistle play dead , likely irritated the referee, yet if the referee recognized or accepted that there was no advantage, perhaps due to Van Dijk intervention then that could justify why the ref didn't give a yellow card to Messi.

No doubt the fact Messi was cautioned later and shown a yellow irked the Dutch fans knowing if that had been his 2nd caution then a red card send off reduced to ten and the Dutch might have faired better!

The Parades incident should have, in my opinion, been finalized with a send off! As I like to flashback to OTHER situations that were in again in my opinion handled terribly like the Kim Milton Nielson dismissal of Beckham in an earlier WC, Van Dijk could also have been sent off. It was after all, classic reactionary VC AFTER the whistle! https://people.com/david-beckham-1998-world-cup-red-card-aftermath-8346982

It is claimed by those whose opinion I can not respect, that Beckham suffered a 'moment of madness' That moment of madness is, in my very definite opinion, rests squarely on the shoulders of the match referee following idiotic policies handed down in the pregame instructions received from those that dictate under threat of you go home if you do not follow! Beckham after being recklessly challenged from behind moments earlier by Diego Simeone was dismissed while lying face down bending at the knee and a sideways leg wave love tap that Diego Simeone immediate dived and screamed like a wounded banshee during the World Cup round-of-16 tie against Argentina on June 30 1998. The fact Simone admitted later he barely felt it also chose to say, you do anything to achieve victory shows again in my opinion. both a lack of integrity and character.

No doubt others in the Parades melee could also be sanctioned. The referee, ARs 4th and nowadays VAR are supposed to watching and taking note of who does what and when. I was unimpressed the referee did not get over to that foul quicker. It was a casual stroll but given the ferocity of that tackle, a caution in its own right and the kick away directed into the opposing technical area as USB, delaying restart or even VC all to itself, coupled with the number of card already out, the referee should have KNOWN the match was decidedly volatile and right here, crap was about to go down!. Parades needed to go! bye bye on the red sleigh of shame!

My Colleague mentions the balancing act between showcasing the game, dealing with sponsorships, TV rights, government interest and the spectator worship who want to see the best players in the world competing. No matter the experience or level of training there are games when a referee is just not effective enough to entice players back from their own self destruction & match control eventually gets lost. You can affix blame to policy, nerves, attitudes, behind the scene manipulations or just a bad day!

It is likely the Spanish referee Lahoz was at odds trying to appease those who control his destiny with their set policies & priorities rather than allow him to referee & fullfill his duties to the game and players by using his own interpretation and discretionary powers. Yet a few missed critical incidents and as we are often fond of saying, hard to cork the genie once out of the bottle! Your match, Your decision, Your reputation is on display!
Cheers
Merry Christmas