Question Number: 18129

Law 5 - The Referee 12/14/2007

Melvin Hagerman of Colorado Springs, CO U.S.A. asks...

Recently, an English international referee of repute came out with his life story (for no other way to describe the book), including a well-known incident at the 2006 World Cup which he gave a player three yellow cards before sending the player off. This incident did damage to his reputation, and he retired soon after from officiating as far as I know.

The question: Could--or should--the fourth official have called the referee's attention to the fact that the player had a second yellow, thereby sending the player off--and "bailed out" the referee from making such a mistake? (I'm thinking something similar to an official scorer in a basketball game calling the referees over to the table, to point out that a player had fouled out of the game if the ref's did not realize it.)

Could the players on the field,through their captain, ask to check and see if that player has received a second yellow?

And, how does a referee make a mistake like leaving a player with two yellows in the game?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

How it happened is the $64,000 question, which doesn't seem to have an adequate answer.

Could the 4th official intervene? Certainly - as happened in the head-butting incident in the final. A game which, many feel, might have been reffed by this crew had the card-miscounting not happened.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

You'll note this referee and his full crew went home after the incident. Why he and the crew didn't notice is unknown to me. Why the opponent's didn't call this to his attention, if they didn't, is unknown to me. There are times the assistants should insist and this was one of those times. They didn't and that is that. You'll also note that FIFA had something to say about the incident immediately there after.

How a referee makes this mistake is he doesn't follow the Laws of the Game or something interrupts his muscle memory. Law 12 states "A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any the following seven offences". In this case the referee showed the yellow card then wrote. Not following the prescribed procedure introduced the possibility of error. Before the yellow card was introduced in the 1970 World Cup Finals referees would speak to the player then write his name and number [if present] in their notebook. Speaking with the player, taking his name and telling him he's on a caution is very personal. It is remembered. Waving a yellow card about is like dropping a load of bombs from 35,000 feet, it is rather impersonal.

Granted in Football matches at those levels players speak different languages but referees can learn some phrases in their language, can't they?

Regards,