Question Number: 26630

Law 5 - The Referee 8/14/2012

RE: rec Adult

alex of richmond hill, ontario canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 26607

I also disagree that the ref made a bad call regarding the idfk and the subsequent pk, and have defended the ref's decisions when this incidence was brought up in many discussions I have here in ontario. Basically you cannot argue against a cop ticketing you 2 clicks over the speed limit as she is technically correct to do so according to the law.

However, I do have a question on the first US goal in which the corner kick ended up in the net after passing a defender and keeper. Having the luxury of slow action replay, it seems that the defender was pulled by a US attacker. Assuming that the ref saw the pulling, is there anything in the law that suggest not penalising the pulling? Maybe trifling? defender not affected by the pulling? or simply the attacker trying to hold on to something while she is falling down?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alex
Good analogy on the ticketing although it would be seen by a many as getting a ticket for 32 in a 30 zone.
As regards the goal from the corner I did notice that as well and I believe that there was justifiable call for a pushing offence here by USA #16 on Canada #10. Holding or pushing a player while falling does not exempt the player from the foul nor is it limited to the use of the arm. A player can be held or pushed by any part of the body. Yes the ref can view any offence as trifling but a goal would not be trifling. Not sure what Canadian player #12 was doing here as she seems to step over the ball to allow it to go into a very dangerous area?
In this case the referee would have been well justified in awarding an direct free kick to the defence for pushing. Indeed if you look closely at the replay a Canadian player protests the offence to her after the goal.
I suspect that as usual with most corner kicks that the 'accepted plague' of holding and pushing influenced the referee in the non call. We have all seen much worse go unpunished both ways. You will also note that the referee does not react to the ball to the near post and while she is not in a bad position she is static and she does not anticipate the ball into the near post. Angle of view is important and the slow motion replay from the side on gives a much better view of the incident which is what we see on the video replay.
Personally I think it was poor defending by Canada and a goal that should not have been conceded.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I was surprised to see the ball go into the net with all the Canadian players near the ball. It did appear the US player was holding or pushing a Canadian player but it was probably deemed trifling by the referee and had no effect on play.