Blog from the US Refs at the WWC: http://ussoccer-referees.blogspot.com/2007/09/us-referees-arrive-in-china-for-wwc-07.html
{From the most recent blog entry ...} .... "We have started our regular training sessions. Every morning at 9am we head over to a local university for 45 minutes of physical training followed by 90 minutes of technical training. After we return from our training sessions, we have lunch followed by an afternoon meeting at the hotel. Technology is part of our everyday life here in China. We use heart rate monitors at all of our training sessions. Also we have been introduced to the electronic communication system." ... ....
Referees selected for the FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007 Are there any male referees in this WC ??
No. FIFA has gone with female referees in female events and male referees in male events. I believe their are 1 or 2 female referees around the world that work in top men's divisions at the club level in UEFA and COMENBOL, and don't know about the reverse.
Kari Seitz got the middle of the England-Japan match today with Jen Bennett as the 4th and two Mexican ARs.
Same adidas kit from the Men's World Cup: http://fifa.com/mm/photo/tournament/competition/01_609_19058_full-prt.jpg
There were at least 5 miscalled offside call/noncalls in Nigeria-Sweden match in Chengdu, most of them by the 2nd AR (FU Hongjue). I didn't agree with Lori Walker that the yellow card given for the high boot to the groin should have been a red or would clearly have been a red in the men's game, although I agreed with much of her match analysis. The Swiss Miss Nicole PETIGNAT was outstanding in the US-Korea match.
Agreed. She was the first woman to officiate a competitive men's UEFA fixture (UEFA Cup qualifying match I believe). I am able to watch TV and record shows on my computer, so I have been watching most of the matches. I was also impressed with Jennifer Bennett and Kari Seitz. Unfortunately, unless the U.S. is knocked out before the semis, we won't get to see either of them in the final. We need MassRef (or is it EnglishRef) to start making their predictions .
anyone have a list of the crews for the remaining stage 1 matches? Any idea why Ms. Ogston (Aus) has had two middles in this stage? Overall I think that the ladies have done quite well, especially the "Swiss Miss".
Kari and Jen will get a second middle. http://ussoccer-referees.blogspot.com/2007/09/3rd-round-assignments-in-china.html
I have never enjoyed Pettignant. I think she allows too much "mayhem". I suppose the players look at her as if it's just a bumpy pitch.
Unfortunately I don't know a great deal about most of the foreign women refs. However, I'd say Petignat is a real favourite given the lack of Switzerland in the latter stages. Either her or one of the Aussies would be my guess.
I certainly don't know enough about the particular referees to offer an opinion on them. But based on assignments and politics, I think I can make educated guesses. First, I think that if the United States doesn't make it, Seitz gets the final. She's certainly one of the best in the world, and it's always been a bit unfair that the two best females referees (Sandra Hunt and Sonia Denancourt) never got to do a final. So I think Seitz is the odds-on choice if it's feasible. That being said, there's obviously a very good chance the United States will be in the final, so Seitz is probably out. And, in the past, European referees have worked the final (technically all four finals, in fact), so I tend to believe UEFA referees are out of the running. Petinagnt, in particular, is out, because she's had the final before. A lot will ride on who makes the final (if there's a rematch of the first round, which is more likely in the women's tournament than the men's, the referee from that game won't get the final), but I think the likely options are OGSTON (AUS) and FERREIRA-JAMES (GUY). If UEFA somehow stays in the mix, I think the match goes to BECK (GER). I would guess those three and SEITZ (USA) are the four referees that are really in the running.
In the Japan-Germany match, Germany was awarded a PK at around 86:05. The German player tried to slide a ball past Japan's #2 and the Japanese defender extended her leg to deflect the ball. The ref saw the ball slide under her leg and the German then tripped over the extended leg. However, from the reverse angle, it can easily be seen that the Japanese player did make contact with the ball, if only slightly. Had the referee seen the play from the same angle, I think it would have been highly unlikely that she would call a PK. Had this play been reviewed, the call would have been reversed IMO. Neither Tony DiCicco, JP Dellacamera, Rob Stone nor Julie Foudy mentioned the Japanese player's contact with the ball, in fact the only sound you could hear was the biting of tongues. Apparently we won't be having any refereeing controversies this tournament.
And Ana Paula Oliveirais my favorite. She recently posed for Playboy (Brazilian Edition. (You gotta love the soccer panel panties )
So Argentina received the only red card of the tournament so far yesterday morning. In 2003, Argentina received the one and only red card of the entire tournament. Chances of there being no more send offs and history repeating itself?
All and All, I think the refs are doing a fairly good job - but I think there will be at least someone who gets the two yellows = red. I don't know about straight red.
Look's like Sport Billy wins a prize. There were only a few poor calls in the US-Norway match: 14:58 Dalmy knocks the ball forward to Wambach, O'Reilly is passively offside in the center of the field but the AR flags it anyway as Wambach runs forward to play the ball. Some might argue that since a defender was marking O'Reilly she was interfering with an opponent, but I would strongly disagree. (Could have been significant.) 16:22 Wambach is tripped in the PA, no call. (Obviously this could have been significant.) (Foudy disses the FIFA World Feed for predicting no that no replay will be shown, and is soon proven wrong.) 38:28 Wambach is crushed by a Norway player, no yellow card is given. 52:48 No foul is called against Norway on Julie Osborne. 61:38 Norway handles the ball in their own box, but no call is made and Norway wins possession.