I think you misunderstood things. This didn't happen. He did blow for the penalty kick. Then, when the players protested, he was telling them he was talking to the VAR to confirm that awarding the penalty was not a clear and obvious error. Also, in this situation if he had not blown for a PK, he was still fine. Because then his decision is that it wasn't a foul and he would be checking with the VAR to ensure it wasn't a clear and obvious error to not call a PK.
Agreed. He did whistled and pointed to the penalty spot. That was obvious. I guess he contacted with VAR to ensure that he had taken the correct decision. Overall a satisfactory performance but nothing more. I have doubts about an incident on the first half and a potential VC.
A decision is needed, yes. The decision can be to not make a call (and then the VAR buzzes the referee if that decision appears obviously wrong). But a referee cannot stop play for no reason and say "hold, on, we're going to the VAR." Now, a quasi-exception to that is mass confrontation, but even there the initial decision regarding the foul and any immediate misconduct should be made. The only other exception is something that was totally missed by the referee crew and off-the-ball. In that sort of situation, the VAR is initiating the review himself because he's saying "there's something you didn't see that I think you need to look at..."
Such an incident did occur (during the American MLS was it?) Marrufo as VAR reviewed and called back, Elfath was referee.
There hasn't been anything in MLS yet, so you don't have the details right. There were incidents in USL, a couple involving Elfath. So, probably.
Pretty shocked Faghani didn't caution the foul that he played advantage on that led to the goal. I thought he had that. I'm just guessing, but it almost seemed like he didn't give it, waited for the VAR, but then the VAR can only intervene if he suggests it's a red card. Maybe Faghani was just never giving the card; but I can't help but wonder if the reliance on the VAR led him into being unable to caution a foul he wanted to caution.
I understand that the VAR can buzz the referee to let him know that video is being looked at on an incident... but can the referee buzz the VAR to ask if a play can be reviewed? Or does the VAR always initiate the conversation?
It's constant two-way communication. But it's important to know that the VAR is doing silent "checks" on all major and potentially major incidents, so the need for a referee to specifically ask for a review of something should be near nil. He might say something like "hey, on that corner kick I had bodies between me and the far post, can you make sure there wasn't an elbow I missed" but even something like that is close to unnecessary because if there was something the cameras caught, the VAR should already be intervening. .
If confederational neutrality holds and the principle of not seeing the same team twice in the group stage also holds, it almost has to be Rocchi for Chile-Australia (the only alternative is Gassama!) and then Roldan or Pitana for Germany-Cameroon. Skomina looks good for a knockout match. Then the South American referee that doesn't get the second match in Group B. Tossup for the other two spots, but Geiger doing well in his second game could put him in really good position.
You could be right, but I'm guessing he just didn't want to give a card that early on an advantage that led to a goal. I'd also argue that you could make a case for a red card on that tackle, but it would be just unrealistic to expect a red card 6 minutes into a game. He also just gave a warning on a forearm/elbow into the face by a Chilean player towards the end of the first half so I'm thinking he's just following FIFA instructions to keep a low profile.
I agree. Rocchi is the only option for CHI-AUS and probably Roldan for GER-CMR. Skomina should get a SF but with so many mistakes, I can't find a suitable candidate for the final.
Chile : Australia - ROCCHI (ITA) Germany : Cameroon - ROLDAN (COL) Mazic and Pitana are fourths, respectively. Matchups are really going to determine which referees work the semis and final, but Skomina and Pitana seem very likely to be involved.
Well, Al-Mirdasi hasn't worked yet! And I wouldn't argue against Rocchi or Geiger if either/both has a good second match. I haven't seen everything, but I believe Rocchi has been the best so far.
I don't believe that FIFA will appoint again an UEFA referee to the final after 2013. And if CHI is on the final, I believe that Pitana will be out. So Geiger could be in the pole position in case of a good performance.
I didn't see Geiger's match, so can't comment on his performance, but Rocchi was great in the Russia vs. Portugal match. Italy's tradition of strong international referees looks likely to continue with Rocchi. Wouldn't shock me if he ends up on a semifinal next year in Russia.
Great game by Geiger so far (and I'm saying this despite my utter contempt for him). Nice non-use of VAR for the penalty. We need more of that. If you're certain of a call, be certain of the call. Don't go asking for a second opinion. Too much refs treating VAR as a safety net.
VAR doesn't work how you apparently think it works. Every penalty is checked and the VAR, in this case, would be telling Geiger he's not wrong before the penalty is taken. In more controversial circumstances, the referee might point to his ear to remind the protesting players a check is being undertaken. But no matter what the referee does visually, the check is always happening. It literally is a safety net in all situations.
I find this rather interesting. VAR initiates review on penalty area incident. CR does the OFR. Watches, determines not a penalty, restart with drop ball. Apparently the trip wasn't clear and obvious? Not sure I understand here. It's a foul, right? The only way this is a logical result is if the VAR thinks it's a foul but the referee says "no, that's trifling." https://streamable.com/0a2oh
And is supposed to provide a remedy for "clear and obvious" errors. Rus v mex referee stops play to review a penalty decision that he did not call a foul on. He reviews it, and still does not give the pk. Dunno what the psychology of this is, but if you have a colleague who is essentially telling you that you are making a clear and obvious error, how do you not heed them?
Hehe. Sorry. Apparently neither do the commentators, because I got the concept from them. Thank you for your feedback and education.
Probably the referee deemed the contact as rather small and decided no penalty. Restart with a drop ball is correct. I can't understand how the referee sees no foul here.
Foul to me. But. Assume that the R, after the OFR, says "Oops, I was wrong. PK." AND assume that goal(s) were scored, yellow/red card(s) given, restarts taken between the foul and the R stopping play for the review. It was ~41 seconds in this particular case. Are all of these negated? What happens to the old rule of "can't change your decision after a restart is taken"? Is this out the window?
The VAR must initiate a review by the next restart. If dynamic play is occurring he's supposed to wait until it's in a neutral area (well, the CR is supposed to wait until then to stop play). But if there is a stoppage before the VAR can make a determination, play is held up (we saw this a couple times on corner kicks at the U20s). If the next stoppage is a goal and the OFR confirms a penalty, then yes the goal is negated. Cards are trickier because you punish the nature of the foul and misconduct. VC and SFP wouldn't be overturned. Most UB yellows wouldn't. But DOGSO or SPA? No idea. I hope FIFA has one and has told its referees to apply the standard consistently.
This, I think, has the potential to lead to disaster, because it opens up the question of who is actually refereeing the match on the field, the on-field referee or the VAR. What happens if the VAR sees something that the on-field official didn't see and didn't stop play for? What happens if the on-field official makes a no call on a PK decision and then after another 30 seconds of play have passed the VAR calls down and says, "oh wait, that was a PK"? What happens if on a corner kick the VAR determines that a shirt-pull is PK-worthy but the on-field official doesn't? What if the VAR and on-field official disagree about whether a PK should be awarded for a handball/not a handball incident? You can only have one person in charge of the match.... FIFA needs to create very specific guidelines for how and when VAR can be used, or else it's going to become a huge mess.