Question Number: 26492

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/24/2012

RE: Competitive + Select High School

Aziz of West Des Moines, Iowa USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 25580

Why soccer officiating is so subjective? I have one call - hand ball in the box against our team called in one game but a very similar hand ball ( more obvious) not called in a different game. First game - was a quarter-final match and second in the semi-final. This is make a difference?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Aziz
The key rhrase in the Laws is the opinion of the referee. For handling of the ball to be called an offence it must be deliberate. The difficulty is trying to being uniformity and consistency to what is meant by deliberate.
In a recent Euro Championship game Referee Damir Skomina awarded a penalty to Greece against Germany in the last few minutes for deliberate handling. The German player turned his back and the ball hit is arm. I personally would not have awarded that although I suspect that the referee was of the view that the German player made no effort to avoid the ball and that positioning himself in such a way that if the ball hit his arm that it would help in deflecting the ball away from goal. On another day a referee may decide that it is not deliberate handling.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

What is often obvious is only that the ball and arm made contact. It only becomes a foul when the referee judges it to be deliberate handling, and this requires more analysis for the referee than simply did it happen.

My experience is that referees don't change how they make foul and penalty decisions differently in quarter or semi-final matches than in regular matches. Some are reluctant in a championship match to call anything could alter the match. But, great referees have the courage to make tough decisions when it matters.