Question Number: 31315

Mechanics 3/6/2017

RE: Rec Adult

russell of Sydney, Australia asks...

Not that it will every affect the level that I am involved in, however, I wonder how Zlatan's elbow will be treated by the match review committee.

Obviously, it all depends on what Match Ref K Friend includes in his report.

What is for sure, is that if we really want to remove blatant foul play, then the ROC need to be amended to allow review committee to strike a player out even if dealt with on the field. Understand that can undermine the Ref call on the day, and could lead to slack refereeing (where they think 'the the match review will take care of this').
Maybe take a leaf from the various Rugby codes and introduce an 'on Report' action, that becomes a post review, and dealt with accordingly.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Russell
Referee Friend was berated by some pundits for speaking to Ibrahimovic and the captain Rooney with no action taken. I saw nothing wrong with that in that he probably said that something happened there and he did not have a good view of it so no action was being taken. ( it was shown that a Bournemouth player stepped across the view of the referee at the time of the challenge which was unfortunate) and probably warned him of his future game conduct.
By doing that Referee Friend allows the FA to take retrospective action as the referee will report that he did not see the elbow in which case the player can be cited for his conduct. Had a caution been issued then no action can be taken. A similar situation exist with the Mings alleged stamp which contributed to the incident.
So referees should only give what they see and if it is missed then so be it. Anything else is a guess which is not a good place to be on such important decisions.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Russell,
it is true if a referee makes NO call for an unseen event there can be NEW repercussions via the video review whereas if it was seen and dealt with improperly the player may not be held to a higher standard.
The match referee KNEW something was amiss and choose to explain/or chastise so they knew, he knew, something even if he did not sanction the actions.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Russell,
As it happens, enough time has elapsed that we already know what has happened.

Both Ibrahimovic and Mings have been charged with violent conduct. According to a statement from the FA:

''The players were involved in two separate incidents in or around the 44th minute which were not seen by the match officials at the time but caught on video.''

However, it seems Mings may be facing a more lengthy sanction than Ibrahimovic with the statement going on to say:

''Furthermore, the FA has submitted a claim that the standard punishment that would otherwise apply for the misconduct committed by the Bournemouth defender is clearly insufficient.''