'Fair play' goal in Italy under investigation

Such a messed up way to look at things. Who is even mad about this? The fans? When the fans get to the point of outright protesting fair play then you have misplaced priorities in the game. It's starts being no longer a game, but a war against different cities or sides of town or classes.

As far as the Laws of the game are concerned the referee did everything correct, however I would've liked him to be closer when they were doing their celebration. Might have prevented the melee and things like that. The referee counted both fairly won goals correctly, if he was a particularly astute referee though he might've blown the whistle when it became apparent the defensive player was hurt. The laws don't require him to do so unless the Goal Keeper is hurt. However looking at how these fans seem to treat fair play and common sense, I'd be worried about sticking my neck out.

 

How sad.

And what the heck is going on with Italians wearing scarves, gators, or whatever you want to call them? They're all over the place now. At what point did this become part of a player's equipment?

 

When the referee decides that it does not pose a danger to the player or the opponents. Also when it's December and FRIGGIN Freezing...why can't the USSF give us specially made Rain Jackets to wear during games?? WHY!?!?

 

The federation do have your best interests at heart; you've now got five shirts. Wear them. All of them. At the same time. That's 20% extra warmth right there. Very benevolent if you ask me.

Or you could get one of these....

http://www.ppprainwear.com/cw2/Assets/product_full/10945.jpg

I'm just sayin'.

 

YAY I'll be Warm...and soaking wet. Also thats just terribly, I wouldn't be caught dead in that clear packaging.

 

We're talking about Italy here. Generally in the 40s, 50s (Fahrenheit) this time of year. Perfect footballing weather. But then again, we are talking about Italian poofs.

But seriously, I'm seeing them on players who aren't wearing gloves while fans are in short sleeves. This is a fashion thing, not a cold weather thing. The FIGC apparently doesn't care, but at some point, Francesco Totti is going to get hauled down by his neck and then someone is going to notice.

 

I've known referees to make players take off their gloves because they're not in the Book as appropriate to wear. I just don't see the point of making yourself into an enemy of the players before the game even starts. If you can see some unfair advantage or some kind of danger from the garments then by all means speak up. However when it's 60 degrees in SoCal everyone busts out the gloves and scarves so we just deal.

 

Perhaps I am not making myself clear. A large, loose fitting garment wrapped around one's neck is a fashion statement, not cold weather gear. It presents a very useful handle to grab onto and hurl one's opponent to the ground.

If a professional footballer wants to wear additional garments that are matching in color to his kit and not a danger to himself or his opponents, then by all means, stay warm.

And yes, SoCal is ridiculous. At Surf Cup Showcase last week it rained a bit each night and was a bit crisp in the mornings. The moaning that went on made me think we were in Siberia or something.

 

Kidding aside. I found an excellent way to deal with wet & cold. I purchased a water proof, breathable, Biker's wind breaker. On a cold wet day I put on a wicking undergarment then the wind breaker then top it with the Jersey. The Jersey gets wet but the wind and water does not penetrate the wind breaker. Because it breathes I do not get over heated or clammy under the wind breaker. The wind breaker has no collar so nothing shows outside the referee jersey.

 

to keep on topic, this is ridiculous. sportsmanship is finally introduced into the game after a silly play (albeit unintentional it seems) and a brawl, and then now they check the "legality" of it? jeez, c'mon people. with all the racism, violence etc, that's been publicized in soccer in the past, the coach should be raised on shoulders and carried out of the stadium

 

I've never seen this blog before, so I read some of the other posts. The author comes off as a true insufferable douche bag. He finds unusual soccer news, then makes assinine comments about them.

"The justifiable anger of its fans is not all Ascoli has to worry about in this decision, however. An investigation has now been launched to decide whether Reggina's free goal constitutes fair play or a breach of the rules and whether the fact that the referee did not stop Ascoli from scoring in the first place makes their goal legal."

There's 3 strikes right there, maybe 4.
1) "justifiable"
2) There are no 'facts' given concerning the nature of any 'investigation'.
3, 4) I won't even try to parse that rest of that second sentence...

 

Nice bit of research. Thank you.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to jayhonk again.

 

by that logic long hair/ponytails should be illegal

IMHO preventing a player from wearing something that could be a threat to other players is expected, but to prevent a player from wearing a garment because other players might maliciously use it against you is beyond reasonable.

There is certainly no reason an opponent couldn't grab the back collar of Totti's jersey and whip him to the ground with that...the logic is a stretch

 

Not going to flame you or anything. I just think the players can make a choice, one way or another. It would be nice if they chose to respect their opponents more than they want to take unfair advantage of their opponents predicament. We should think of it this way, all players want to gain an advantage and that's fine. If they gain unfair advantage though like say when they're in an offside position and participate or they use their arm or hand deliberately then we peg them for it. It's not a negative thing for the other team to acknowledge and act when they see they're taking unfair advantage of a situation. Referees aren't special beings, the only humans on the field with the ability to make a choice to do good. The players are humans too, with their own morality. It's a game, do the right thing.

 

Actually, I think that the players choice to respect each other and stop play for an injured player has NOTHING to do with the refs, period.

The refs are there to enforce the laws of the game. I have not seen anything in the laws that says that players need to continue play, stop play, or even play at all, if they choose to do so. FIFA and the refs have NO role in determining if players want to stop for other players. Refs can (and should) stop the game if they feel a player is significantly injured, but that in no way should infringe on the players rights to kick the ball out of bounds if they so choose.

Remember, players play the game, refs referee the game, and coaches coach the game. We don't go out of our roles if we want to make sure the game stays orderly.

In this specific situation, the team who had just scored a 'goal' felt that they should not have done so. There are no laws that would allow the referee to call the goal back, so they did the best thing they could do, allow the opponents to score. Unless there are allegations of match-fixing, there should be no penalties for anyone involved.

 

Didn't FIFA, or UEFA or some major group say just that thing? Stop kicking the ball out, let the refs decide? It is a good theory, the players deciding, however it got way out of control, especially in the last WC, players sat down to stop attacks, it was way out of control.

As for the uniform stuff, the LOTG outline the uniform, we also are told to not allow things like hooded sweatshirts etc. You are in the right to be a hard liner on this, if it's not the uniform, you don't wear it. Simple, cut and dried.

 

It is the English Premier League that agrees with Sport Billy. They have had the policy the last 2 years (or so) to discourage the players from kicking the ball out. I think the results have been positive. When there is an obvious injury, the players still kick the ball out, at about the same time as the ref blows his whistle.

But for the small and fake injuries, the ref lets the game continue. The policy takes the onus off the players to play it out. This keeps the play flowing and eliminates most of the the ill that develops when one team refuses to kick the ball out for a player who is faking it. Afterall, it is not their responsibility any longer.

 

I don't believe this applies in this circumstance though. Anybody can see that the entire defense stopped playing, the offensive player was not capitalizing on a mistake, he was taking unfair advantage of his opponent.

 

All I can say is...this is Italy, and it has a different Soccer Culture there.

 

I have been told by a national assessor that pulled muscles are not a valid reason to stop play as the referee. This is an issue of conditioning and not a "serious" reason to stop play, as we are advised to do by the LOTG and the ATR.

Billy I don't see how putting the responsibility on the referee will solve any problems. We all know that players fake injuries, we are not mind readers nor are we called upon to be. I think the custom that stands currently is the best case scenario given how much faking/simulation exists in the game. What if this "injured" player popped right back up after the ball went out of touch and said "oh never mind, I'm fine now."

What is of great concern to me from watching the clip, is that this ref did not have the awareness to be on top of the penalty area as the goal was scored. Obviously this was not going to end well, and he may have been able to prevent retaliation by being on top of things.