Question Number: 33453

Other 6/18/2019

RE: old man-50 years ago a goalkeeper Adult

John J. O'Hara of Berlin, NJ United States asks...

I'd appreciate your opinion of the job referees are doing in WWC. I thought that the Honduran referee from yesterday was especially good.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
Yes I have been reasonably impressed with the officiating so far. A good standard although I think VAR has helped.
Referee Melissa Borja from Honduras has a good presence about here and she is very clear in her decision making. I thought the penalty award based on what I saw on video (without the benefit of other VAR angle Should) was a tad harsh plus it was a second yellow which was a red card. The PK was not given in real time which for me is a test of officiating.
The retake of the PK was a VAR decision which also was a tad harsh as the GKs foot is inches off the line.
In addition I think the games have been not to difficult to officiate if that is possible. No real battles to deal with as yet. Teams have been quite disciplined and VAR has cut out a lot of shenanigans that might otherwise get missed or not dealt with.
One of the things I noticed is that some referees tend to give fouls on minimal contact or where they think there is a foul. Saw a few slips that ended up as free kicks.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

I think the referees are doing fine but I think VAR is a huge mistake . The Nigerian keeper was literally a few inches off the line and no referee would ever recall this a a retake much less a card. The LOTG state if BOTH teams encroach it is a retake two french players CLEARLY inside. NIGERIA has every reason to feel upset.
Cheers