Question Number: 31717

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/17/2017

RE: Semi pro Adult

Luke Morton of coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom asks...

This question is a follow up to question 31716

he's the link to the footage of jeff's red card. it's unlisted on youtube so only people with this link can see it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA0aNviPhFA

Hopefully you can see the footage here

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Luke
The video is not clear. What I do see is
1. The defender throwing himself down and sideways towards the ball
2. The referee is well placed and he has a good view of the incident.
3. The ball was expected by the player
If the ball made contact with the players outstretched arm which it looks like it did and as confirmed in your first question then in my opinion it was deliberate handling. The player has knowingly moved towards the ball in a manner that can be argued that allowed the ball from an expected shot to strike his arm stopping its progression which is deliberate handling. Had the player stood up and the ball hit him with his arms by his side then different matter.
Now on the dismissal the referee was of the opinion that the handling denied either a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Okay there is the 'what happened next' had the ball not struck the arm to be interpreted yet that very action of deliberate handling has denied the answer. That denial though can be covered by denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity which is also a dismissal. So in my honest opinion I do not see anything incorrect or untoward in the referees decision here. The player positioned himself in a way that stopped a ball going towards goal with his arm which was an opportunity to score and under the Laws it is a penalty kick and a red card.
If I was to conduct a straw poll of referees I would safely say that a significant majority will go with a penalty for deliberate handling and a red card. So as an observer I would not mark the referee down here for his decision as he was well placed, he interpreted the action by the player as deliberate handling and that the action prevented a goal scoring opportunity.
If I was being picky here the only gripe would be that Purple 6 comes from a distance to get involved in the decision and causes somewhat of a small spat between players which is deserving of a caution. As a referee I know that it is not easy dealing with such players yet the advice is that referees should be particularly alert to players approaching or joining such an incident from some distance who should be identified and given a yellow card.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Luke,
from the single camera angle & given the referee was in decent position to see what transpired. The fact the player charged/slide in towards the attacker with the intent on blocking the ball his arms are not likely to grant him any favours unless tucked in behind. If the arm was inline with the body on the turn I see no reason to find it deliberate but if the arms are out to the side in such away that the referee thinks it was blocking space or was intended to to ensure contact hard to fault the decision based on anything I can perceive at the moment .

I saw the highlight package of all the 7 to 2 match I sw no obvious issues with the officials this is just a perspective issue and how different parties view a match based on their own opinions rather than facts.

Have a look at this video related to your question it shows how FIFA is using RISK to find fault even if the handling is unintentional in the player had no desire or intention to handle the ball but it resulted off a deliberate action where he could NO LONGER control his body.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1ntPotJzRE&index=5&list=PLsAXIYtop5OuwuRbZmHjRVBsDfvZIzkhC

Esse was my mentor in this great game who I took a great deal of my own personal philosophy from based on the spirit an integrity of this man himself. There is a 5 minute video called 'The referee at the centre of World Cup storm " which is the single greatest video that shows the true spirit of integrity watch it and you will feel and understand why I love and respect this man who I hardly know personally but my life was made better for him being in it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-lNODXuA6k

Cheers
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Luke,
In your earlier question you talked about what I took to be to be a theoretical question about a ball accidentally striking a player's arm. I replied that if the ball had struck the arm accidentally, there would be no offence (since the law says it has to be deliberate).

However in the video link you posted of an actual incident, it is not at all obvious that this is an accidental case. The video does not clearly show the ball striking the player's arms nor the position of his arms but the referee is well positioned to see the offence.

I have to say that although the video is a little unclear as to the exact position of the player's arms (they are more or less hidden by his body) he seems to throw himself in front of the ball in what the referee decides was a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the arms. It also looks as if the ball was headed towards the goal, if not for the player blocking it.

If the referee judges that it was a case of deliberate handling which denied a goal, then a penalty and a red card are required.

Based on the relatively limited amount of clear evidence in the video it's hard to make a definitive judgement one way or the other (and as frequently mentioned, handball decisions are always some of the most subjective anyway) but I agree with my colleagues that there is nothing that clearly indicates an error on the referee's part.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 31737