Ref misses a penalty (and a DOGSO red card), giving a yellow and a free kick outside the box. Preseason, so nobody cares, but pretty embarrassing. Great no offsides call on the same play, as he was being held on by a Monaco defender on the other side. Don't have a question, but the announcers noted a particular issue - the AR who needed to hekp Atkinson decide if it was inside or outside the box was out of position because he was tending to the offsides call and couldn't match Apkom's speed.
I'm only here to say the Puma ref kits are about as dreadful looking as anything Official Sports puts out. Is the EPL switching to these this year? Or is it only because Arsenal is a Puma team in a friendly?
I wondered that too. The yellow socks are a particularly egregious fashion violation. Looks like the ridiculous things they make the Italians wear in their league.
From wikipedia: Additionally, referee kits are now being made by Nike, sponsored by EA Sports, and Nike has a new match ball, the Ordem Premier League.
Those kits made Atkinson look like an 80 year old man. Actually, I thought they were worse than the hideous OSI stuff we wear.
Good question. For some of the state side friendlies, some of our referees have been wearing OSI kits for some of the matches, and others they are wearing Adidas kits they use for MLS. Last year the BPL refs switched to Nike. I'd imagine Nike wouldn't be signing a 1 year contract for something like that, but that it would be multi-year. I'd imagine Arsenal provided the kits for this match, but who knows. If they aren't wearing the Nike kits, I would've guessed they'd wear the Umbro kits of the English FA. But if a team is going to give you a bunch of free stuff are you really going to turn it down just because the socks are hideous? Personally I still would have dropped the socks and worn black. Colored socks look just awful.
But sort of like that? Thought I saw something like you described when I googled them.... not pretty. Kind of curious because next year the CSA might be changing from Umbro to the Nike kit (yes, same company now). Not that I will be on any televised game, but some higher end referees will require it for college/university. I much prefer the Umbro Premier II kit with the white pinstripes in the shirt and shorts.