Astounding referee statistic

[jcsd]

By my count so far there have been at FIFA World Cup 2006:

40 games
230 yellow cards (including the 3rd one shown to Simunic)
17 red cards (13 of them for two yellows)

That's an average of 5.75 yellow cards per game and 0.425 red cards per game.

FIFA need a serious review of their instructions to referees.

[Yaxley]

Simunic deserved that 3rd yellow card, but I'm a bit surprised the Ref sent him off. A bit harsh wasn't it... just because he had 3 yellow cards? :p

[pepsi]

Yeah that ref was out to get Simunic, sending him off after only 3 yellow cards, not even a warning first

:D

[Carolina]

By my count so far there have been at FIFA World Cup 2006:

40 games
230 yellow cards (including the 3rd one shown to Simunic)
17 red cards (13 of them for two yellows)

That's an average of 5.75 yellow cards per game and 0.425 red cards per game.

FIFA need a serious review of their instructions to referees.


As a point of reference, the 2002 World Cup had an average of 4.25 Yellows and .27 Reds per match through the entire tournament.

For those of you who can't located your calculators, that's a 35% increase in yellows and a 57% rise in reds!

[Dr. Wankler]

Interesting, because weren't the first four or five matches pretty far below the average? The pace seems to have picked up (what with one player getting what has to be a World Cup record of three yellow cards in one match!)

[Carolina]

My understanding of the overall theme of the FIFA directions on emphasis to referees was to increase the protection of the skilled players, in other words, move the balance more toward the attacking side of the game.

In 2002, the average goals/game was 2.52 and Shots on Goal averaged 10.77. So far this time, goals/game are averaging 2.45, down roughly 3% and shots are the same at 10.77.

So we've gotten to see more cards, resulting in more non-playing time and have seen less goals. I'm sure the sponsors lining up to pay more for South Africa are going to be thrilled with that!

[footfetish]

My understanding of the overall theme of the FIFA directions on emphasis to referees was to increase the protection of the skilled players, in other words, move the balance more toward the attacking side of the game.

In 2002, the average goals/game was 2.52 and Shots on Goal averaged 10.77. So far this time, goals/game are averaging 2.45, down roughly 3% and shots are the same at 10.77.

So we've gotten to see more cards, resulting in more non-playing time and have seen less goals. I'm sure the sponsors lining up to pay more for South Africa are going to be thrilled with that!

to make matters worse, this "protection" has only encouraged something that i would assume most fans hate worse than physical play-- diving and acting.

[BuzzA4]

By my count so far there have been at FIFA World Cup 2006:

40 games
230 yellow cards (including the 3rd one shown to Simunic)
17 red cards (13 of them for two yellows)

That's an average of 5.75 yellow cards per game and 0.425 red cards per game.

FIFA need a serious review of their instructions to referees.


What I don't like is the change of focus happening at the WC.

Yes, there should be a crackdown on elbowing, shirt pulling and diving. But, why try to make the reffing a focal point at a world cup. It's a grab at the spot light by the refs.

The FIFA ref's trying to protect skilled players and stop delay tactics, etc has become a farse. The number of first half yellows to keepers taking too long, for example....useless. Teams are more worried about yellow cards in this tournament than I have ever seen. The coaches/players have no idea what the ref will give out cards for. The consistency across refs and even same ref game to game is nonexistent.

A good ref should be relatively unnoticed, not the center of attention.....I'm talking to you both, Poll and Merk .....

[jcsd]

Update (and correction as I miscounted the number of games, I haven't double checked the number of cards, soemone may like to do this, thoguh I was pretty methodical)

46 games
243 yellow cards
18 red cards (14 for two yellows)

5.28 yellow cards per game
0.39 red cards per game

[leg_breaker]

It's turning into a farce. I think it should be four yellows for a suspension, not two, considering you can get booked for looking at the ref cross-eyed.