Catch 22

Discussion in 'Referee' started by refontherun, Jul 14, 2006.

  1. refontherun

    refontherun Member+

    Jul 14, 2005
    Georgia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I know most of the discussion has been concentrated around the WC, but I just wanted to throw something out here and get some advise from you guys.

    I would think that all of us can admit that we have made some questionable judgements in our days as referees. I had such a case about two nights ago.

    It was a 6v6 Coed Adult Summer League game played on a small (30X50) field. The lights were not very good at all. Getting down to the final minutes, the game was 2-1 for the Blue team. A Blue player is dribbling out of his own 1/3, when a Green player comes to challange but trips on the ground and makes contact with the Blue player. The combination of the Green's lose of balance and Blue's momentum, Green player goes down.

    Here's the tricky part. The mixture of bad lighting, and the last sentence above, I call the foul against Blue. The Blue team start to object, and the player that was in possession immediately and forcefully kicks the ball away (caution comes out for dissent). The keeper, among others, approach me near the spot of the foul (caution the keeper for leaving the PA to engage me).

    Before all of this occured, I would have probably reevaluated the decision and given the free kick to Blue, but after all of the commotion, if I had reversed my decision, imagine the flak I would have taken from the Green team!

    This is my quandry: When a situation like this evolves during a game, how do you handle it? My choice at the time (if you could say I had one) was to stick to my guns and have the Blue team accept the consequences of their actions following the foul. In retrospect, the right thing would probably have been to go the other way and award Blue the kick regardless of the consequences.

    By the way, the free kick ended up sailing well over the crossbar. All that for nothing. Also, the Blue team ended up maintaining their lead and winning the game, but still persisted in commenting on that one call well after the game had ended.
     
  2. Ref Flunkie

    Ref Flunkie Member

    Oct 3, 2003
    New Hudson, MI
    I think it would have depended on a few things. If I had figured out in the first few seconds after blowing the whistle that I had screwed up, over the protests of the blue team I would have blown my whistle loud in short chirps and go "Sorry sorry guys, pointed the wrong way, blue kick". Even if they had already kicked the ball away in disgust, I would likely have let it go with a good dress down of the player. The longer you wait (opinion) after you initially call the foul, the worse things will go with both teams and the more credibility you will lose. Once you reach a point of no return, you will just have to try and sell the call as best you can and deal with the results. Obviously we should always correct wrong calls, but I think (opinion) we need to weigh the effect of the call on the rest of the game. If it is a call at midfield with little scoring chance, I would be less likely to go back on it after more then a few seconds. If the mistake gives a team a free kick where they could easily score, I would probably be more inclined to change it even after dealing with any misconduct that resulted from the "wrong" call. Also, if it is OBVIOUS to everyone under the sun that you screwed up (I mean, the player likely knew he tripped over his own feet), then just change the call and explain to them "Hey, you know I made a mistake there, sorry". If they are jerks about it, that's their problem, they know what happened and shouldn't try to cheat their way into a free kick. Just my opinions.
     
  3. jkc313

    jkc313 Member

    Nov 21, 2001
    Been there, done that. Since you apparantly realised you'd called it the wrong way almost immediately, I'd have carded the idiot that kicked the ball away for either wasting time or dissent and while doing so explain to him I had made a mistake and was changing the call anyway and what a shame it was he couldn't hold his temper 5 seconds to let me sort things out and he earned himself a yellow.
     
  4. USSF REF

    USSF REF Guest

    If you were able to realize it was a close or questionable call, I might have just understood the frustration and run to the area where play was going to be after the restart and do my very best to ignore the dissent, as you had brought it upon yourself by making a mistake. The mistake now compounded that you have cautioned 2 of the players from the team who should have originally had the free kick. Had you not made the mistake, no cards would have come out because the players wouldn't have reacted in that way.

    Thats not saying what they did was right, but if they had a legit beef, why add to it? Effectively, what you have done is punished 2 players for questioning a decision that you eventaully realized was wrong. Somehow that just doesn't seem fair to those players. Sure... they should never argue or dissent you, but that's not realistic. Were you right to caution, technically yes. Should you have, maybe or maybe not. Were the players right to show dissent to your decision, no. Is it understandable with you realizing your error, yes it is very understandable.

    After that, what did the players think? "This guy just blew the call and now we have 1/3 of our team on cautions." That could lead to bigger problems.
     
  5. bluedevils

    bluedevils Member

    Nov 17, 2002
    USA
    Excellent post. Very well said.
     
  6. TomEaton

    TomEaton Member

    Mar 5, 2000
    Champaign, IL
    I'm not a referee, but I think that sort of reasoning leads to mixed messages for the players. Indicate that dissent might not be cautioned provided that the referee made a mistake, and soon the players will be showing dissent on every call that goes against them, and then will be surprised when they are cautioned for it.
     
  7. refmike

    refmike New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    Cal North
    The player who kicked the ball away was out of control and that MUST be delt with or the ref will loose control of the game. Admitting the mistake comes first and then the player needs at least a few calming words. A card might be too much considering the situation but the action cannot be ignored. The only message that must be sent is that the ref is in control.
     
  8. intechpc

    intechpc Member

    Sep 22, 2005
    West Bend, WI
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm with USSF Ref on this one, I think this is a great case where the referee needs to consider "Would the issuance of a caution for this misconduct likely have desireable results for game and/or player management?" (USSF, Cautions and Cautionable Offenses, 2006). I this case I don't think either card had a desirable effect on player or game control. There is no positive I can see from the actions that were taken.

    I too like the idea of, if realized soon enough even if after the ball was kicked away, correcting the call and then having a few stern words with the player that kicked the ball away. This method would have had the three opposite effects that would have been very positive: 1. the correct call would have been made, 2. the players would have maintained a better attitude toward the game, and 3. by still addressing the player who kicked the ball, the ref would gain respect and credibility with both teams.

    So what you've learned from your experience is to process things quicker (i.e. correct the call right away instead of pausing to think it through), consider the impact your cautions have on player and game management when you debate issuing them, and remember to keep the focus on safety, equality and enjoyment (Sorry just got done with the clinic so that's all fresh in my head).
     

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