2021 MLS Week 13 Referee Discussion

I didn't realize the Canadian teams were allowed back home

 

Spzala's 2nd whistle with Pekmic's 4th game.

 

Saw something I don't think I've ever seen live yet tonight. SJ assistant got two yellows (in about 2 minutes) and their head coach got a yellow.

 

The assistant is also their HC's interpreter, so not sure how it should work if the HC is saying unprintable things in a language the ref doesn't understand, but his interpreter puts it in understandable and vulgar language.

 

This will be an interesting case study.

 

I think the lesson here is for the interpreter to find a way to clean things up so both are able to stay in the game.

I keep thinking of the scene from "Patton" where Patton tells his interpreter to tell the Soviet guy "word for word" exactly what he said about him never collaborating with a Soviet general (or something to that effect . . .).

 

This is also the second time the interpreter has been sent off (happened in 2019 apparently). So I'm going to guess that he has a habit of adding his own opinions to what he's interpreting...

 

It might be worth pointing out that the referee and fourth official both speak the same language as the head coach making the interpreters interactions with the officials unnecessary

 

In 2019 both the HC and the interpreter were sent off. The HC tried to claim the interpreter leaving was good enough but the CR wasn't having it and wouldn't start the game until the HC left. I was very surprised that he was allowed to stay in this last game. The fact the 4th Official spoke Spanish I think points to the conclusion that the interpreter may have chose harsher words than the HC actually said.

For me, SJ should discuss this prior to the game with the officials. Do you need a Spanish interpreter on the sideline? If the answer is no, then the interpreter stays away during these interactions to avoid any confusion. Otherwise, the words of the interpreter are 100% the words of the HC. You can't separate them. Maybe there's some in between where the 4th official understands enough to know it's not a clean translation. I'd still say the HC is held responsible for the interpreter's words. Of course, then there's the flip side of that where the interpreter cleans up what the HC says but the 4th Official knows enough to understand what just happened. Ugh. I guess the best course of action is for the HC to always be on his best behavior.

 

This is fine in theory except a team gets a technical staff of up to 7 members and is not required to specify what their roles are. Some may carry orthopedic doctors, some weight training coaches, or various other positions. SJ is not allotted an extra member for translator.

Also remember the coach must communicate with players that may or may not speak Spanish. His purpose is not specifically to communicate to officials.

Don’t count out the fact that the interpreter may have acted on his own accord. Perhapshe wasn’t translating anything at all.

 

I'm not saying the interpreter stays off the sideline if not needed for talking to the official. I'm saying that he doesn't get involved with those conversations where he isn't needed. And, yeah, it's unknown what went down as far as what the 4th Official understood from each of them. The only way I see only the interpreter being ejected is if the referee could understand both of them.

 

For this past game, it was irrelevant.

The 4th official and the referee are both practically native Spanish speakers. They didn't need an interpreter. There was no lost in translation of "did the interpreter translate what the coach was saying or did the interpreter say that on his own."

 

Toning it down is unethical for professional interpreters. I studied sign language in college from someone who's a licensed interpreter, and was preparing other students for that as a career path (I wasn't heading that way). She was pretty blunt and moderately vulgar in class in a way that it seems a lot of CODAs (children of Deaf adults) are, but as an interpreter has to go with the tone, vocab, and attitude of her client. So she had stories of going to medical appointments and using medical terms going one way and juvenile slang the other, cussing out government officials, and telling what she was pretty sure were lies in court, because that's the job.

That's said, the assistant coach isn't necessarily a professional interpreter.

 

I don't see myself ever refereeing a game where a team official has an interpreter, but if this incident happened with me, I don't see why I wouldn't send off both the interpreter and the person they are interpreting for. He is there to translate, so whatever he said that gets himself ejected, presumably came from the coach or whoever.

 

interesting situation in KC. As annoying as these KC announcers are, they have a good point. Dickerson calls a PK with KC in possession of the ball as their player popped right up after the contact with control of the ball. VAR rightly has him take a look because the SJ defender tackled away the ball before the light contact happened. So, no PK which was the correct decision. But then the restart is a dropped ball to the GK which does seem quite harsh on the team that had the ball in a very dangerous place when the whistle was blown. I presume that is the protocol but it is unfair

 

When they eliminated the contested DB, the laws established that if the ball is in or was last touched in the PA the DB is to the GK.

 

I agree it's LOTG. The announcers seemed to know that to their credit. They were just blind to how much of a chance it actually took away. (A ball in the box is still a ball in the box though.) Seems simple enough that a similar procedure here could be used like with delay offside flags. Wait until the immediate goal threat is over and then call the PK. Of course, how often do we actually see an attacker not go to the ground in this situation? How often is there any continuation of the play when there is potential contact? It happens, but it's the exception. Maybe having delayed calls would encourage the attackers not to go down so easy.

 

holding the whistle for a beat or two doesn't really cost you anything so I think it's what usually happens.

I don't dislike Dickerson, but he might need a bit more seasoning