Match 21: DEN : AUS - MATEU LAHOZ (ESP)

Oh no. That was *not* a penalty. Dear, dear.

 

Yeah, no, that's a terrible mistake by Geiger. Hard to explain that one.

The announcers don't seem to know the rules, but that's not how you should officiate.

 

Warren Barton is in agreement with the VAR call of penalty. My problem is he didn't know anything about it, and it wasn't like he was stretching his arm out to block the ball, he was using his arm to balance himself as he jumped - something all of us do. I just don't know if that's how I want handballs called going forward.

 

So I've been out of the loop for the last couple years that VAR has come onboard. What is Geiger's role here? Does he just indicate to the referee that he needs to take a look and it's ultimately the refs decision? Or is Geiger himself making the call?

 

There's no way that's a correct decision in my mind. And when handballs are called like that, it ruins the game.

 

Plenty of forum topics on VAR mechanics or a simple google search solves all your problems

 

Geiger refers the decision down for another look, but Mateu Lahoz has the final say on judgment calls. If it were something factual (ball in/out of penalty area), Geiger could just tell him

 

Yeah, this is the biggest thing for me. Geiger is one of the more experienced referees with VAR, and Mateu Lahoz took about half a second to agree with it after seeing it on video, didn't even want a second look. For Geiger to send that down and the review to go that quickly means this must have been something FIFA wants.

 

Sorry, I thought a quick answer from a genius such as yourself would save me some time. Instead I'll read through 300 posts by sometimes-referees who *think* they know. Thanks, bro.

 

Funny. Took him a matter of seconds to send down and less than 5 for the referee to agree. That's a penalty. Get out of your mind what you think players are trying to do. Hand is above his head making body bigger

 

I figured this was case, which should keep Geiger out of the fray as it's ultimately Lahoz's decision. And this is all predicated on the assumption that FIFA agrees with us - that it's the wrong call. They may not.

 

You're welcome. So is everyone else who doesn't want a forum topic about a specific match hijacked with explanations of something you can already read on your own.

 

This is key. And *if* this is the way they want it called from now on I see an exponential increase in penalties. How boring will games be with 3 penalties a game?

 

Really? It's a clear penalty. You can't just allow defenders to have their arms flailing around like that in the air on headers.

The only issue is that other referees might not make that call or send it down this tournament.

 

I quibble with this thought. I think there IS a psychological incentive for the referee to want to overturn his initial decision. It's something along these lines "Wow, I must have been wrong because the VAR thinks I made a clear and obvious error, let me look for evidence I was wrong"

For what it's worth ... I don't see how you can avoid giving the penalty here.

*Edited for clarity*

 

Would have been two posts about it until your snarky comment. Regardless, I got a simple answer and it's over. No need for you to continue.

 

I’m interested in the caution he received. Would that be for SPA?