2019 WWC Refereeing

Yeah I don't think any women referee has actually worked in a VAR room so far.

 

I believe this to be incorrect, but certainly not enough have done so to fully staff a tournament the size of the WC.

 

FIFA Referees’ Committee – represented by Collina, Head of FIFA’s Referees Department Massimo Busacca, and Kari Seitz, FIFA’s Senior Manager of Refereeing – announced with regret that experienced Canadian referee Carol Anne Chenard and Chinese assistant referee Yongmei Cui will no longer be able to take part in the Women’s World Cup for health reasons.

Chenard has been diagnosed with breast cancer, while Cui has been advised not to participate by doctors due to heart problems. The two officials will not be replaced. Chenard’s two assistant referees, Chantal Boudreau and Kathryn Nesbitt, will be in France and will feature regularly in matches.

26 referees and 46 assistant referees left then..

 

I feel just as bad for refs who have to miss out on big tournaments as I do players. To put in all the time and effort preparing for a big occasion and having something that's beyond their control take that moment away has to be the worst feeling in the world. I wish nothing but the best for them going forward.

 

1st Match - France v Korea Republic

• Referee:
  Claudia UMPIERREZ URU
• Assistant Referee 1:
  Luciana MASCARANA URU
• Assistant Referee 2:
  Monica AMBOYA ECU
• Fourth official:
  Melissa BORJAS HON
• Video Assistant Referee:
  Mauro VIGLIANO ARG
• Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1:
  Felisha MARISCAL USA
• Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2:
  Jose Maria SANCHEZ ESP

 

Umpierrez the umpire comes back!

 

So, I didn't get to watch, but will see highlights later - how did the referee team do?

 

Good VAR decision disallowing a French goal. No bookings, quite consistent no big errors.

 

Thx

 

The decision was indeed good, but a lot of people hated it anyway.

I guess basically the number of the haters of this specific decision was equal to the number of those who hated the VAR in general, like me, so I don't want to start another rant; suffice to say: I don't like stopping the game for the VAR; I don't like disallowing beautiful goals like 'Mbock-Bathy's one for minimal, irrelevant infractions.
Of course, if I have to live in a world with VAR (something I'd prefer to avoid), yesterday's decision was correct.

 

Crap VAR decision but not the VAR crew's fault - it's a problem with overusing technology to mess with the spirit of the laws and the beauty of the game. Without VAR, no one would complain about the M'Bock-Bathy's goal being allowed to stand. How is an attacker to correctly judge to that level of precision? Her eyes are in her head, not in her toes which are offside.

 

Hell, we don't even know if the technology is good enough to know if the decision was correct. As a discussion in the Referee Forum pointed out, the FPS (Frames per Second) resolution may be inadequate to tell us accurately if someone's off by a matter of a few inches.

 

I have alluded to this elsewhere, but FIFA needs to rethink its handball in the box rule. Its enforcement is far too harsh, and in my view the defender should be given the benefit the doubt unless it is seems very likely that s/he intentionally tried to deflect the ball. Of course that almost NEVER happens.

Let's start by asking this question: What is a handball? It is almost always a REFLEX movement by a player, which means it is inadvertent and, really, uncontrollable. If you are standing 8 or 10 yards from a player who is driving his or her foot into a ball that is heading for your head, your arms will move reflexively, whether you want them to move or not. I'm not sure where came this idea that defenders are supposed to perform athletically in the box but essentially not use their arms as they are doing so, so that the ball won't //accidentally// hit your arm or hand. It's absurd. And nothing illustrates the absurdity of the rule more than when we see players who actually put their arms behind their back when defending in the box, to avoid any accidental contact. You can't perform athletically with your arms at your side, much less behind your back; it is unnatural.

In the South Africa--Spain match, the SA defender got called for a handball because the ball was coming at her and she turned her body (in the air, as I recall). In turning her left arm came away from her body somewhat--not a lot but beyond the "silhouette," as I hear is the rule, whatever that is, and the ball clipped her elbow. Penalty, PK, and Spain tied the game. It was almost certainly accidental contact between the defender and the ball--and I do not believe that PKs should be awarded for accidental contact between a player and the ball. Why would you?

It's funny, too: We often hear fans refer to calls that are "harsh." That's really the soccer term for calls that are unfair, in a lot of cases. I hear some fans saying, well, the rules are the rules. I guess, but unfair rules should be changed.

South Africa lost because of two "harsh" calls--the 2nd because of a supposed "reckless" play in the box by another SA defender, who, after clearing the ball away, dug her spikes into the leg of a Spanish player. It was another //accidental// play. The SA player fell backwards after kicking the ball, which is why her foot went up and into the Spanish player. Can an accidental play cannot be a "reckless" play? Apparently, some soccer fans/officials think so, but I am not one of them. And the referee did not make the call--the VAR official did. Should have been a no call. Instead, a PK was awarded to Spain--for accidental contact, I repeat--and the resulting goal was the winning goal. Unfair, I say.

 

The law does consider the distance where the ball came from, around 3 yards, which is a more reasonable distance. If a ball comes from 8, 10 yards away and you cannot pull your arm away, then you have no business playing.
Some of these handlings that were called at this World cup were absolutely correct. The defenders' arm were extending far beyond their bodies or the arms were moved toward the ball, not away.

This was also a correct call, the defender did more than clearing the ball, she extended her leg, with studs up into the other's body, that was clearly a foul.
When you play the ball in a vicinity of a player, you should be extra careful. It's not the same as when you are by yourself. A lot of players, in this same situation, pull their legs back. This player did the opposite.

 

I didn't watch the game, but watching that play knowing Spain got a penalty and the player was sent off pissed me off a bit. Crazy.

 

Between the handball rules and the follow through contact leading to two penalties, the defenders job is getting harder and harder.

 

It's nice to see that the VAR has eliminated all controversies.

Oh, wait a minute....

 

Indeed it has created different ones

 

Only if you do not know the LOTG.