Interesting VAR reversal of SFP red card in Haiti-US women’s game. High kick doesn’t hit head, but hits shoulder and stomach with studs. While I can certainly see an argument can be made for yellow, I really have trouble with the idea is was a clear error to give red. (Unless, perhaps, R said she gave red because of contact to the head, and that was clearly incorrect?)
Red card called against Borgella, who took some spikes to O'Hara's shoulder. But, the call is currently being reviewed.#USAvHAI | 2-0 pic.twitter.com/pfh61kgLzY— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) July 4, 2022
I feel like saying the ref had a ton of courage giving a SFP red on a challenge like that in a women's game. It's one of those where most go yellow, but it's never a CO error to give a red.
I think it's most likely correct that the referee had the wrong point of contact, and in CONCACAF that just might be enough to recommend a review. Worth noting that this is a PRO VAR. I don't think there's a chance this gets sent down in an MLS match.
Obviously an unscientific sample of one, but I watched the play live and immediately thought SFP red in live action. Given it usually takes a lot for me to think something is a red in live action watching on TV, I have a really, really hard time thinking that is anything other than a send off.
Christina Unkel as the Laws expert opined while the VAR review was underway that the red would stand. At half time, she reiterated her view that it was not a clear error. She noted that the bent leg was a consideration that supported yellow, but other considerations supported the original call of red card.
To be totally fair to Unkel, I thought her analysis of that play is exactly what I want to see and hear from a rules/refereeing expert. She gave her opinion (she disagreed with both the caution and that VAR called for an OFR), but also gave very clear reasoning why the officiating team might have decided to overturn the call. She is generally very sharp and presents the full picture on plays like this, which I really appreciate.
Well done CONCACAF in correcting actual SFPs to downgrade them to YCs.... Also, based on the freeze frame, I'm not sure if the onside for the first USA goal was correct...
What's happening thanks to VAR is issuing cards based on the exact point of contact, which of course is unrealistic on-the-field in real time.Simply making routine use of Slo-Mo changes & distorts the way the game is refereed. I've noticed here calls discussed in terms of whether the contact was "glancing" vs solid and straight-on, which simply invites what I call the Crash-Test Dummy Fallacy. Opposing players aren't Crash-Test Dummies but they're treated as if they are, as if they simply go into a crash to test to see how bad the damage is. If they react to a dangerous challenge by flinching or avoiding getting crunched and thereby allow the contact to be "glancing", well they just saved their opponent a red card. The system has failure built into it so deeply it seems impossible to fix ADD: even though I'm a US fan, I felt bad about the red card for Haiti as they were starting to get into the game and play well. But the on-field call by the referee (I don't know her name but I think she's from Canada) is, to my mind, how the game should be called.
Is it fair to say that since the referee gave the VAR signal and then signaled offside that had the play been onside, we would have seen an OFR for the possible penalty for the US on Pugh? If the challenge wasn't deemed a clear and obvious error, am I correct in saying that we just would have had a "check complete" and not even worried about the offside?
Just realized that I shouldn’t have started my comment like I did. Didn’t mean to imply you were critical, but it certainly makes it seem like I did. Apologies for that.
MEX:JAM Good use of var on the pk. It was at least on the line if not in the PA. Horrendous effort on the shot.
Idk how much you can compare these two incidents, but if you skip to 4:35 on this clip, there is a similar sort of situation (there is a 'better' one from Ireland vs. Switzerland with Del Cerro, but I can't find a clip of it). UEFA's verdict: a clear (not even dark) yellow card, red card a clear mistake. Basically, I sense that this exactly the view of the powers-that-be. The whole point is that a load of tackles/challenges which were common back then now don't even happen anymore because of red cards which were given, even when there was no serious injury. It is such an obvious thing to me. The whole point of DOGSO red cards is not the one-in-hundred time when Valverde rugby tackles Morata, it is the ninety-nine times out of hundred when he doesn't pull him down, because he knows that he is going to be sent off. If the punishment for such a foul was only yellow, then such offences would occur much more often. The same about tackles/challenges. I watched every game from WCs 1986 and 1990 recently. Games were perhaps not as rough as one might expect, but lunging for the ball was quite normal. Actually, even up to WC 2002 in some cases. But, because of the zero tolerance about this from mid-noughties on, this 'play' was virtually eliminated from top football. And now it comes back... It seems that everyone is ready to ignore this (IMO) quite obvious point, preferring to keep 11 vs. 11 at any cost. The 'tragedy' that this transfers over into women's football, where the game requires much more careful 'crafting' in terms of trying to 'guide' the way that players play the game, is really sad.
Live speed clip. This play shows how you can pretty much talk yourself into anything with a slow-motion replay. The first ever VAR decision in CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying history overturns a red card for Roselord Borgella and Haiti. 👀 pic.twitter.com/6HnZGHAQ01— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) July 4, 2022
Tree falling in a forest and all that, probably worth acknowledging Fischer (and Wattam) worked the Final here. A Canadian officiating the U20 Final is a major achievement and would seem to bode well for him going forward, even if it wasn't the most marquee matchup.
She finally made her debut in the Japanese second division today, in the match between Omiya Ardija and Tokyo Verdy.
Thank you so much for posting this. I remember when you or someone else posted this here at BigSoccer before. This and a couple other plays around the same time convinced me it's shambles. The game, refereeing, VAR — it's just shambles now. And we just had another red card rescinded by VAR, this time at the Women's Euros on a tackle by Italy's Sara Gama on France's Grace Geyoro
Maybe a weird question, but can somebody identify the two VARs from the U20 Championship match Jamaica vs Antigua & Barbuda? Lead VAR should be Koroleva.