There was a previous thread already in the MLS sub-forum and the 2019 FIFA List is also touching on this. So please be careful when starting new threads on topics that are already being discussed. That said, it deserves its own thread and it's more than just MLS, so I'm leaving this thread open as the main area for discussion.
Maybe we can get him into our high school association down the Jersey Shore! Bad achilles, or not, unless he’s using a walker, we can use him! (The only reason I mention the walker is the quality of our fields!) On a serious note, what a career! To reach the pinnacle of refereeing from a small town in New Jersey is a great accomplishment and a testimony to his character and perseverance.
Does this preclude Geiger from being a FIFA consultant/coach for VAR? I would imagine that FIFA would like to have him for helping with VAR. It would also be interesting to see if Geiger would be available for TV work if it doesn't interfere with MLS activities (i.e. Women's World Cup, Gold Cup, etc.). Given his teaching background, I'd wager he would be good on TV explaining officiating matters.
The in-booth official rules expert bar has been set really low by Dr. Joe Machnik. I mean if Lexi Lalas can take a grade 8 class and can outclass Dr. Joe... that’s a pretty low bar. However, I think Mark would be okay in the booth. Personality wise he comes off as shy and semi-reserved to me. I only had 1 interaction with him so I may be wrong tho.
Geiger is already involved with VAR training and instruction at the FIFA level, having attended the last instructor’s clinic in Spain. Given his new position with PRO—where he is now the only former World Cup VAR who is managing referees in a VAR league—and his background as well as his perfect English, I think you should expect him to play a massive role in VAR selection and training for 2022 and beyond. It’s possible he already is and you could see evidence of that in the next month or so. I don’t think you’ll see him in the booth while he has this job. If that’s not something Webb would do with his personality and background, there’s no reason to think his deputy (who is definitely a bit more reserved, anyway) would be doing it.
Countries with more referees on the men's FIFA list than the US (very partial list, chosen for ironic effect): Angola, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Congo, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Yemen. Oh yeah, also Venezuela. Countries who are active war zones, barely have a functional government, yet still had the wherewithal to get a referee committee together to nominate at least 5 officials: Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. I don't think South Sudan even had a referee committee four years ago (or a nation seven years ago!) and they have four officials on the list. I know not everyone on the list gets games...I get that. But still. EDIT: After typing this post, all of the ads have changed to vacations to Costa Rica
Although somehow, we had two referees with whistles at the WC. That's incredible, when you think about it. I'm not sure this is true, but my take is that it shows our reps on the FIFA committee are more effective than the US referee committee. It makes the FIFA committee's success all the more noteworthy in light of what they are given to work with. But that is conjecture--I could be reading that wrong.
I know the feeling. I referee an indoor Latino league with all Spanish music playing all the time. All of a sudden I get ads in Spanish and my music selection on most music streaming services now plays Spanish music as well. Scary. I speak several languages, but Spanish is not one of them.
You’re reading it wrong. An argument could be made that our FIFA representation helped Marrufo. But that same representation is a driving reason why the US Committee is incompetent at nominating referees. Geiger got an opportunity in 2011, seized it, and never looked back. Marrufo was fortunate to get an opportunity in 2017 and is now doing the same thing. Maybe Hall helped create that opportunity for Marrufo; I honestly don’t know. But he’s also a main reason why we don’t have 7 or 8 referees on the list today.
Off-topic, obviously (but I think this thread has zero chance of staying permanently on-topic)... Has Stott refereed every franchise? My understanding is he plans to stay on for a little while longer, so assuming fitness goes well he'll get Cincinnati and likely Nashville and the new Miami team. So maybe Austin will be the first club that Stott never referees?
For those of us who don't know the full details (though we've seen Brian Hall officiate a match before), can you elaborate a bit?
Only a little. Brian Hall controls CONCACAF and has a spot on the FIFA Committee. He also has relationships that go back decades with many of the USSF Referee Committee. So despite not serving on the US Ref Comm, he has great influence. If Brian Hall says, for example, "you can nominate that referee to the FIFA list, but CONCACAF isn't going to appoint him," it apparently matters. And it's apparently happened. There's obviously a lot of hearsay and rumor in things like this, which is why I'm not comfortable going into a lot of details when I cannot pretend to truly understand all of them; plus confidentiality prevents me from asserting specific claims in individual cases. But I have yet to run into one high-level official (and by that I mean FIFA or FIFA candidate... or former FIFA) who doesn't think this is the case right now. I'm sure actual members of the US Committee and their close allies would protest or disagree, but I don't.
Good points here. All of the booth refs have disassociated themselves with the leagues when they have gotten into TV. I would think that would need to be the case with a soccer booth as well.
This is what I have "heard" over the years: Brian Hall has a "type", and if you don't fit that "type" then you will never be good enough in his eyes.
Now that both Geiger and Fletcher retired, could anyone explain what actually happened with Morgante at the 2017 Confederations Cup, tournament that caused him to be replaced with Anderson in Geiger's trio for the 2018 World Cup?
I don't think the retirements change anything, but I also don't think there's some massive state secret or controversy. My understanding is that Morgante just didn't perform as well at Confed Cup--either in-match or with off-field fitness/training--as FIFA wanted. So they started looking elsewhere. Remember that Morgante initially ended up on Geiger's team as Hurd's replacement at Geiger's request--it's not like he had performed at a major FIFA tournament and already had its blessing. At least part of the reason why Marrufo went to the U17s was so FIFA could try out Anderson and Rockwell as ARs. It all worked out in the end when all three got selected for the World Cup. But I guess you can say Anderson got the immediate nod, which led to the WCQ appointment in New Zealand and then attached him to Geiger's crew for Russia.
Reading the comments in the MLS and for Facebook links is high comedy. You would think Geiger is the anti-Christ if you believed some of the fans. I guess that’s what happens when you are a high profile referee. Sorry Bubba, but your fellow ATL United fans don’t paint themselves in a good light with their constant whining about officiating.
Fans are gonna complain about referees, high profile referees even more so. It's unfortunate, but it's to be expected. I only try to step in if someone is passing along false information, such as the completely false rumor that Geiger was ever suspended or otherwise pulled from assignments for "bad calls."
Long story short.. I have a new computer because the old one crashed and lost all info so here I am again.. not that I posted a lot but.. so i am not really a newbie From what I heard about CJ was that Brian Hall had a lot to do with it.. going back to previous messages in this thread.. "This is what I have "heard" over the years: Brian Hall has a "type", and if you don't fit that "type" then you will never be good enough in his eyes." Brian approached CJ after Confed Cup. CJ took it as that Brian wanted him to be on his top game and when the assignment came out without CJ .. He was totally blindsided.