Question Number: 19967

League Specific 9/16/2008

RE: Select High School

Warren Duzak of Nashville, Tenn USA asks...

What is foremost in your mind when you are writing a game report that includes an incident/send-off? I know the USSF outline but I'm interested to know to what extent you mention apparent motivation or intention by a player and if it is proper to celebrate good behavior in reports

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

As Joe Friday used to say, 'Stick to the facts, Ma'am; just the facts.' We don't know what went through a player's mind when he fouled an opponent; neither do we know any motivation or malice he had when he committed misconduct. We don't read minds, so we don't look for intentional fouls or misconducts; rather we evaluate the deliberate acts we see happen. Misconduct reports should reflect what happened, not why we think it happened. Of course part of what happened might be what a player said. 'You're dead meat!' as he charged over to pummel him pretty much indicates this was violent conduct. The general tone of the match could also be included in the report - was this a one-off incident, or a pattern of behavior that gradually escalated to misconduct?

If another player or a coach helps to diffuse a problem, such as ensuring that the sent-off player leaves the field and its surrounds, that could be mentioned in the report.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Opinons are for making the decisions on the field, reports require a stated fact and the appropriate reason.
A true story names changed but although

12th minute Caution the yellow card was shown to Kyle Sallery #19 of the Harmony Eagles for failing to respect ten yards

18th minute Caution the yellow card was shown to Carl Meter #5 of the Philly Crashers for delaying the restart of play

24th minute Caution the yellow card was shown to Brice Joker #11 of the Philly Crashers for USB holding the jersey to break up attacking play

33rd minute Caution the yellow card was shown to Kyle Sallery #19 of the Harmony Eagles for persistant infringment (he had committed 5 fouls including the earlier yellow card and was warned by me to watch himself when he was on his fourth) as it was his second yellow card, the red card was shown and he was sent off reducing his team to ten players

35th minute red player JOHN MCGURK #12 of the Philly Crashers ran fult tilt into the back of blue player Bill Tobias #11 of the Harmony Eagles just shy of the midline. John McGurk was sanctioned for a charging foul with a DFK against shown the red card and sent off for SFP (serious foul play )reducing his team to ten men.

While the Philly coach quickly remove John from the area it was the opposing coach MR Ted Booger of the HARMONY EAGLES who loudly threatened to have his players retailiate and was warned by me to sit down and stop enciting violence. He refused to act in a reasonable manner so I dismissed him from the field area,. He continued to be argumentative and only left after I said the match would be abandoned if he did not leave. The match continued without further incident with The Eagles winning 3 to 1 over the Crashers!

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Facts are what go into a game report. It's dry, of course, but necessary. State exactly what happened, time in game, place on the field, prior incidents between the players, anything that was heard by the referee team which might be relevant, the position of the players (coming from behind, for example), who else was in the vicinity, the speed and force of the challenge, trajectory, where the ball was relative to the incident, etc.

All of this should be stated in terms that follow the Laws of the Game to the letter. Use the language in the Laws. For example: Coming from behind and at a full sprint, Red #6 leaped up and over Blue #4 while trying to head the ball into the goal, catching Blue #4 with an elbow in the back of the head just at the top of Blue's penalty area. Red #6 was sent off and shown the red card for violent conduct in the 61st minute of the game.

The report needs to draw a good mental picture of what the referee saw for anyone reading the report. This means the referee's emotions are not needed and in fact obscure facts needed by any panel reading the report to dispense appropriate justice.