Referees: assignments & questionable calls

Assignments for Matchday One are posted at the Law5 website: http://law5-theref.blogspot.com/2024/07/202-fifa-mens-and-womens-olympic.html

One potentially BIG assignment: Tori Penso has been assigned to France/Colombia. While the Colombia/ Canada match will be the more likely match to be troublesome, there's still some danger here. I don't expect problems in Colombia / New Zealand because Colombia probably realizes they are the better team (they are) and won't need to resort to underhanded tactics against the Ferns/ Kiwis.

Colombia, I'm sorry to say (because they have a lot of talented players and I generally like underdogs), is a problem team, perhaps the biggest problem team in women's Olympics and World Cup play. I know many people will not appreciate my saying this, but they seem to cynically select one or two matches in tournaments in which to use cynical, overly physical, even dirty play to try to overcome their disadvantage against a good team. About once a tournament, Colombia should wind up playing with only nine or ten players.

We saw how far to the ugly end of the scale Colombia's games can get in their last "friendly" with the US (also perhaps the recent U20 or U19 game against Japan). Certainly people will point out that Trinity Rodman deserved a 2nd yellow card, but it was clearly something Colombia provoked. The referee in that match, Marianela Araya (Costa Rica), was inadequate to the task. It doesn't necessarily make her a bad referee because when Colombia is like that, it's unusually difficult and challenging for a referee. So it will be interesting to see how a top referee like Tori Penso handles the match, although Colombia will possibly save their dirty tactics for later rather than against the host nation

Key to Colombia's dirty play is faking injuries. The strategy is transparent — "how can you give us a yellow card when you didn't give one when our player was just on the ground in mortal pain?"

Repeating for emphasis — I'm not saying every game, but it simply should be unsurprising to see Colombia playing with nine or ten players on occasion

 

Matchday 1
Canada - New Zealand
Tess Olofsson SWE
A1: Almira Spahic SWE
A2: Francesca Di Monte ITA
4th: Frida Klarlund DEN
VAR: Rob Dieperink NED
AVAR: Katalin Kulcsar HUN

Spain - Japan
Bouchra Karboubi MAR
A1: Fatima Jermoumi MAR
A2: Diana Chikotesha ZAM
4th: Odette Hamilton
VAR: Jerome Brisard FRA
AVAR: Mahmoud Ashour EGY

Germany - Australia
Katia Garcia MEX
A1: Sandra Ramirez MEX
A2: Karen Diaz Medina MEX
4th: Anahi Fernandez URU
VAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
AVAR: Sivakor Pu-Udom THA

Nigeria - Brazil
Kim Yujeong KOR
A1: Park Misuk KOR
A2: Joanna Charaktis AUS
4th: Jelena Cvetkovic SRB
VAR: Kate Jacewicz AUS
AVAR: Ivan Bebek CRO

France - Colombia
Tori Penso USA
A1: Brooke Mayo USA
A2: Kathryn Nesbitt USA
4th: Shamirah Nabadda UGA
VAR: Tatiana Guzman NCA
AVAR: Daneon Parchment JAM

USA - Zambia
Ramon Abatti BRA
A1: Rafael Alves BRA
A2: Guilherme Camilo BRA
4th: Veronika Bernatskaia KGZ
VAR: Daiane Muniz BRA
AVAR: Rodrigo Carvajal CHI

 

It's probably some FIFA or IOC tryout program cuz in turn Yoshimi Yamashita team will call men's Egipt vs. Dominican Republic match. Yamashita already has experience in men's game, officiating: J1 League back home, AFC Champions League and WC 2022 in Qatar (last one only as 4th ref though)

 

We played them a few times and Colombia are very physical for sure. I am not sure, they will get red cards tough. They seem to know how to avoid a second yellow, or direct red cards.

 

Yamashita with a big mistake. Interrupted game before Dominican Republic scored for a non existing foul so VAR couldn't intervene.

 

I think it was a good idea by @MiLLeNNiuM to start this thread — it's kind of hard to believe, but I don't think we've ever done it before down here in WoSo on a tournament by tournament basis.

Remember, at BigSoccer we have a tremendous resource, the Referee Forum (and I say this sincerely even though I've been banned from the forum). Another good resource is the Law5 blogspot. They usually kick off their discussions with announcements of the referee assignments, such as for Matchday One (both men and women's brackets in this case)

***

I will try to continue discussing some themes about refereeing from the NWSL forum — if I can manage to do so without being too annoying about it. I try not to be overly negative about refereeing — one of my interests is in recognizing good refereeing even when it isn't perfect (even when it's far from perfect), but nevertheless I think there are some very bad trends or directions in refereeing, some of them made worse by VAR rather than better.

In a very general way, my comments on refereeing seem to currently fall into 3 general themes

I — The single biggest difference between refereeing in the women's game as opposed to the men's is that when there's a bad call, or controversial one, in the women's game, people start blaming women. We call the women's league or the women's sport a joke league or a joke sport. Or we let others get away with saying it

II — there are certain characteristics of good referees which are worth noting. They include

• making sure to allow normal physical contact without blowing the whistle every time a player winds up on the grass
• playing the advantage or waiting a couple moments to see if advantage materializes
• using personality to help manage the game and the emotions of the players

III — many of the biggest problems in refereeing are the result of interpretations and rule changes which affect both the women's and men's game; and there are some bad trends. In many cases the blame lies not with individual referees but with the big governing bodies, the confederations, FIFA, IFAB (the rule-making arm of the sport)


From the just-completed men's Euros, here's an example, an unpenalized handball by Spain in the quarterfinals against the hosts, Germany. UEFA has, evidently, decided they don't want this to be a penalty. They want the defender to be able to make this "save"

If this was given, VAR wouldn’t be able to overturn in. So it’s whatever the referee is feeling. Anthony Taylor didn’t want to make a game changing decision there.pic.twitter.com/sZp9ayuax7

— Anthony DiCicco (@DiCiccoMethod) July 5, 2024

***
disclaimer — I am not a referee nor claim to carry any credentials on refereeing and most people who comment here in WoSo generally disagree with my opinions on refereeing. I am persona non grata in the Referee Forum; I've been banned by the moderators there. (To me, it's a badge of honor. I was originally given a yellow card, which was overturned by a Super-Moderator because I violated none of the Terms of Service. Out of spite, as much as anything, the moderators used the extra discretion allowed them to ban me from their forum. I wouldn't go back and start posting there even if I was invited)

 

As one who only looks at the Women's Soccer forums on BigSoccer, I do not recall ever seeing anything along these lines here. I realize, however, that some posters review a lot more forums on BS and elsewhere and use what they have seen elsewhere as background for what they post here.

 

After VAR, Tori Penso changes a yellow card to a red card on Mayra Ramirez for stepping on Bacha a few minutes after Colombia has clawed back to a one-goal deficit.

I think this is the kind of red card I've talked about in some of the "WoSo Ref" threads in the NWSL forum. This is the way the game has gone in the VAR era and Tori Penso doesn't have much choice. Many fans are upset by it (I don't like the way VAR has boxed us into this corner). I know many, probably most of the ones here in WoSo who comment on officiating, agree with the red card. Let me just say for starters that "uncontroversial" does not equal "I agree with the call." Some of us seem to confuse the concept.

For the moment all I've found is a lousy slo-mo view / at 4'29 of the highlight video




ADD: through Reddit, I found another clip but the "streamin.me" videos are always slow to load for me

https://streamin.one/v/00f7cda1

 

I agree with Penso's call. Was it careless - yes, was malicious intent involved - no one has a truth serum on hand to be sure, but even if it was not - the ramification of this tackle could've turned to be a broken leg - which by definition is a serious foul play (unitended or not). Here the broad picture of this match also comes to play, because many flying tackles and hard challenges were observed during its run. For the sake of the players health in future games, the line needed to be drawn.
In time the players from both sides (but also from other teams) will analyze this match, without emotions that were present on the field that day, cool-like, and then - I believe - this red card will serve as a reminder that end result cant justify the means - especially when body and mind are tired.
This call has the potential to save many from serious injuries.

 

My view of this is that the Colombia player took what was the equivalent of a swing at the France player. You can't do that. Red card.

 

Interestingly, there were more talk about two penalties not given for the French team among the people I know.

 

I don't like them either (at least not the one against Colombia; I haven't given any thought to the one against Zambia), but they're giving out red cards in the men's game for them, too AND I TALK ABOUT IT IN WOSO REF THREADS in the NWSL Forum

Red card via VAR in Champions League between Braga and Hertha Berlin —

Red card via VAR in Euor qualifier between France and Gibraltar —

Every thing is buckled ankles now...

 

I gave this the thumbs-up for the sake of conversation, but I disagree with almost everything here (!)

A referee isn't normally in a position to reliably see whether contact with studs are "direct" or "glancing", or whether ankles buckle from the impact — it means re-refereeing a game and, frankly, we're making assertions about saving the health of players without any data to back it up. People turn their ankles all the time — are we all experts in how gnarly it looks in slo-mo?

If someone gets "hurt" by a tackle, then we are condemning ourselves to refereeing, not on the nature of the tackle, but on the results of a tackle. Are we as players and fans going to start demanding that what were red cards only be yellow cards because someone didn't have to get stretchered off? Maybe fouls that we say "endangered the safety of the player" didn't endanger them if they didn't get hurt? What we're saying now, isn't it, is that the true test of whether the safety of a player was endangered was whether or not said player got hurt?

This red card has, to be sure, lots of support, both from many fans and from most referees. From the Law5 Referee Blogspot:

Of course it would be ideal if we could get "buckled ankles" out of the game, but just what is the nature of the tackle that "has no place in the sport"? It's not like someone left their feet and plowed right through someone with their studs. It's not like someone went through their opponent from behind. It's not like someone threw their elbow into someone's face.

What is it that Mayra Ramirez did that has "no place in the sport" other than do something which resulted in the unfortunate spectacle of a "buckled ankle" shown in gory slo-mo? Do we think we're going to get players to stop playing and doing normal things? She was chasing a ball she had played, another player (Bacha) intercepted it by cutting in front of her, and Ramirez caught Bacha's trailing foot in the normal process of continuing her run. As someone on X-Twitter said, her gait was even completely normal. She didn't suddenly speed up to charge into Bacha. She didn't lunge.

Do we think players are going to stop playing and doing normal things to avoid that one time in a thousand when VAR says they're doing a naughty? Let's say we even succeed in getting some players to stop playing — aren't coaches going to question their effort and simply play someone else?

Players aren't asking for red cards for this.* The France players weren't screaming for a red card. They saw Penso give the yellow card and they were satisfied. Denise O'Sullivan wasn't demanding a red card for Trinity Rodman on the last day of the regular season last year. She saw the referee give the yellow card and she was satisfied.

I have some news for all of you — players are not going to be grateful to us for "protecting their safety" with red cards like this. They see it as adding a totally unnecessary element of arbitrariness into the game. They know next time it's going to be them or their teammates getting red cards for something totally accidental and having to play down a player for the rest of the match.

I know everyone's intentions are good, but players are going to resent this as unnecessary meddling by people who don't understand the game as well as they do

*
exception to "players aren't asking for red cards" —
This guy would. Bruno Fernandes. He's a guy who looks for every loophole in every Law of the Game to use for his and his team's advantage
Face at 14 seconds and thereafter in the video

 

Matchday 2 assignments (from the Law5 Referee Blogspot)

Matchday 2
France - Canada
Bouchra Karboubi MAR
Fatiha Jermoumi MAR
Diana Chikotesha ZAM
Frida Klarlund DEN

USA - Germany
Yael Falcón ARG
Maximiliano Del Yesso ARG
Facundo Rodriguez ARG
Anahi Fernandez URU

Spain - Nigeria
Tori Penso USA
Brooke Mayo USA
Kathryn Nesbitt USA
Odette Hamilton JAM

Australia - Zambia
Emikar Calderas VEN
Migdalia Rodriguez VEN
Mary Blanco COL
Veronika Bernatskaia KGZ

Brazil - Japan
Rebecca Welch ENG
Emily Carney ENG
Franca Overtoom NED
Tess Olofsson SWE

New Zealand - Colombia
Kim Yujeong KOR
Park Misuk KOR
Joanna Charaktis AUS
Shamirah Nabadda UGA

 

Beyond looking for PKs (for either side — Colombia had a handball shout in the 17th minute), I hope you found it illuminating to look for some of those things which characterize good referees. France/ Colombia was a good game and it almost turned out to be a classic except for the unfortunate VAR red card which ruined things at the end. (As a neutral, the red card killed the game and it's pretty amazing to me that most of our fellow contributors on this forum have no qualms about that at all)

I forgot to mention the "Aesthetic Test" as I do on the NWSL thread — the idea that well-refereed games tend to be more aesthetically pleasing games, because the players are able to show their qualities than in a match where negative, cynical play is allowed to predominate.

Tori Penso, also, of course, epitomizes the Big Personality approach to refereeing. Another thing characteristic of her games is that she allows normal physical contact without feeling the need to blow the whistle every time a player winds up on the grass.

the main thing, perhaps, is how Penso allows what she sees as normal physical play and shows no signs of being obliged to blow a whistle every time a player winds up on the grass. The risk, of course, is that a referee misses a genuine foul. The upside is that she she sends a message to players that you can't simply draw a foul by going to ground. That's especially important when it comes to contact within the penalty area ("How come no PK when you've called fouls for the same thing outside of the box?")

 

Well said, I was about to post something similar. VAR slo-mo makes every bit of contact look like the end of the world.

Also how is that first handball called against Brazil (vs Japan), but France gets away with a near identical handball on a Colombian corner kick.

 

Different refs both on the field and in VAR. Remember that a lot of the laws of soccer begin with, "If in the opinion of the referee..."

 

Also the handball Spain's Cucurella got away with in the men's Euros quarterfinal against hosts Germany earlier in July

This handball (in Brazil/ Japan) and the one in France / Colombia can be added to the WoSo Ref handball thread (in the NWSL forum), which shows, I think, the coherence and relevance of that conversation

Brazil / Japan at 1'28 of the highlights

Maybe. Maybe not anymore. The advocates of VAR claim that VAR makes refereeing more "objective" and less ITOOTR ("In the Opinion of the Referee") That's the basis for permitting Cucurella's "handball" in Spain / Germany of the men's Euros. His arm is in a vertical position, hence "natural"., hence no handball. Reportedly, UEFA's Ref Committee specifically said this was not to be penalized with a PK.

But that's UEFA. Maybe FIFA has adopted a different standard. So maybe it's a difference in jurisdictions.


***

I don't want to focus on things like handballs (the supposed "Key Match Incidents") to the exclusion of more general characteristics of good refereeing, so in a subsequent post, I'll try to examine Rebecca Welch's performance in Brazil / Japan along those lines, especially since it's been reported that she has been assigned the crucial Canada vs Colombia match

 

Matchday 3

Colombia - Canada
Rebecca Welch ENG
Emily Carney ENG
Franca Overtoom NED
Veronika Bernatskaia KGZ

New Zealand - France
Edina Alves BRA
Neuza Back BRA
Fabrini Costa BRA
Shamirah Nabadda UGA

Australia - USA
François Letexier FRA
Cyril Mugnier FRA
Mehdi Rahmouni FRA
Anahi Fernandez URU

Zambia - Germany
Yoshimi Yamashita JPN
Makoto Bozono JPN
Naomu Teshirogi JPN
Frida Klarlund DEN

Brazil - Spain
Espen Eskas NOR
Jan Erik Engan NOR
Isaak Bashevkin NOR
Jelena Cvetković SRB

Japan - Nigeria
Emikar Calderas VEN
Migdalia Rodrigurez VEN
Mary Blanco COL
Odette Hamilton JAM

 

Notable that two o fthe women's matches will be refereed by men — François Letexier, who just refereed the final of the men's Euros, will be CR for USA/ Australia and Norways Espen Eskas will be CR for Spain / Brazil (I thought Norway was eliminated from the Summer Olympics in everything but women's handball!?)

also notable, today two more men's games will be refereed by women — Katia Garcia is the CR for France / New Zealand and Tess Olofsson will be the CR for USA / Guinea

New Zealand - France
Katia Garcia MEX
Sandra Ramirez MEX
Karen Diaz Medina MEX
Anahi Fernandez URU
Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Sivakor Pu-Udom THA

USA - Guinea
Tess Olofsson SWE
Almira Spahic SWE
Francesca Di Monte ITA
Frida Klarlund DEN
Paolo Valeri ITA
Kate Jacewicz AUS


***

Some of you will be pleased to know that Tess Olofsson — who some of you have heavily criticized while I've called her one of the best referees — was called a poor official by one of the more respected voices in the Ref Forum.

Refereeing the men and women's game is different so I don't know how well she'll do in a men's match, but I believe Olofsson is an excellent referee in the women's game.

(Katia Garcia, the other woman assigned to CR for a men's match today, is also, in my opinion, an excellent referee and has refereed some men's games in Mexico)

 

A bit out of left field, but something I want to start working into discussions about referees are a couple points about what generally is called "game management", for example the use of yellow cards to manage the temperature of a game and prevent it from getting out of hand; or the use of verbal cautions (or the look on a referee's face) as a prelude to yellow cards for that purpose.

Obviously, the Referee Forum is the go-to place at BigSoccer for discussions of game management. It's where I've learned most of what I know about it (if I've learned anything, which of course is a matter of dispute. Tee-hee!). However, I want to note a couple of things:

• There seems to be fewer and fewer discussions about "game management" in the Ref Forum than, say, a few years ago
• To the extent "game management" is discussed, it's almost entirely about the need for yellow cards and that is especially true when it comes to women referees. The prevailing view there seems to be dominated by those who are advocates for early yellow cards (Early yellow cards prevent later ones and red cards, too, a kind of philosophy of "pay me now or pay me later") And that is doubly true when it comes to women referees. With the possible exception of Tori Penso, no woman referee is ever complimented or defended for using verbal cautions.

Now, whether verbal cautions are effective in men's games as opposed to women's — and particularly whether verbal cautions from a woman are effective in men's games — is something which I simply don't know. But the default position in the Ref Forum is to universally criticize women for not showing a yellow card even in women's matches so I expect that to be the case when women referee men's matches as well