Match 98 [QF] : ESP : BEL - OLIVER (ENG)

On what actually Oliver did. I’m as a LOTG purist as there is, but this isn’t a hill worth dying on.

Especially, in a tournament where the manager red card or the second caution red card doesn’t exist.

Good sensible refereeing that only referee nerds like us would notice that it actually is against the LOTG.

Now if the referee was still considered part of the field of play like back in the old days (it is still my preference), then we would have a problem.

 

I'm surprised there is any debate about Oliver awarding an uncontested drop ball because he contacted the player in possession of the ball. It was the right thing to do. How on earth would you word a specific LOTG? "When the referee contacts the player in possession of the ball; or to whom the ball is being passed; or a player that is likely to intercept the ball, an uncontested drop ball should be awarded to the disadvantaged player." Even that wordy mess does not allow for all scenarios and requires interpretation.

The last thing we want is for a referee to have a meaningful impact on a game through their physical presence on the pitch. In this case it is a bit like a judge interpreting the intent of the law. Only it isn't controversial as far as 99% of the general public are concerned. The intent of the law is that referees should not physically impact the game and that the game should be stopped if they do so. If the ref collides with a player 20 yards from the ball as another player shoots play should continue. If the ref collides with a player 1 yard goal side the ball and another player shoots 2 seconds later the game should have been stopped. If you can write a watertight law that covers all scenarios of ref and player contact then you are a very fine wordsmith.

 

Maybe it died because there haven't been any rebound incidents in which VAR had to parse if an attacker or defender encroached and left people with a bad taste in their mouths.

 

You are playing a dangerous karmic game putting this into writing a few hours before the World Cup Quarterfinals!

 

I think you're mixing up a couple incidents. Ted had a Columbus game against, I think, DC where he was caught in the middle of a few players and there ended up being a goal out of it. VAR sent it down as an APP foul, and he ended up disallowing the goal and got roasted by PRO for it (as did the VAR).

I think there was another incident involving Unkel where he was positioned very deep to get the ideal angle, and PRO was supportive of him in that case. Tough luck, as you said.

There have been another few incidents that I can recall, most notably Ford in that infamous Vancouver playoff match. Then there was the CHI/CIN game last year with Lorenzo Hernandez, and while PRO again said it was correct to allow play to continue, they started to stop play for it after that in MLS. No public announcement of a change that I recall, but it's happened enough times to figure out it's being instructed.