Question Number: 33736

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/26/2019

Matthew Alexander Smith of Watford, Hertfordshire United Kingdom asks...

Hi. I was recently watching a game where a player was taken out in the opposition's penalty box by a sliding challenge which failed to make contact with the ball. Upon review, it wasn't given as a foul. What could be the reason why the referee might decide not to give a foul in this instance or in similar instances?

Incident: 0:56
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3nHGGyWm6o

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Matthew
I would guess you are a Watford supporter based on the fact you did not ask why there was no foul at 34s in the video.lol
Anyway one of the blights in the modern game is players going down easily on any contact looking for penalties or looking for contact to go down. Throw in VAR and player know that the incident will be reviewed, perhaps leading to a change of decision.
Now VAR is still in its early days and there is a protocol that IFAB has produced which guides it use throughout the world.
One of the guiding principle is that the referee’s decision can ONLY BE CHANGED if the video review shows a CLEAR ERROR i.e. not ‘was the decision correct?’ but ‘was the decision clearly wrong?’
In England VAR has in my opinion been used to assist the referee not referee it by video and only intervene when the decision was clearly wrong. In these incidents the referee decided that there were no clear obvious foul and no penalties were awarded. On review there is doubt.
And yes there were grounds for a penalty kick in both and perhaps the referee does not give one so he does not give the other.
On the Watford one I am not sure what the attacker was attempting? Was he simply trying to invite the contact from the defender. Was the contact minimal and not enough to take the player down? Was it viewed as the ball was going out of play like the Spurs one and the contact made no difference? It was a silly challenge by the Spurs defender and it ran the high risk of a foul particularly when he raised his right leg. So yes it could have been given.
On the Spurs one there is contact by the Watford player who also does not play the ball yet not enough to be a foul in my opinion.
Ultimately it is up the referee on the day to decide based on all the factors to whether to call a foul or not. The referee here felt it was not a foul yet another referee could have called it.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mattthew,

The ONLY reason a referee will not award a penalty is he is unconvinced it was a penalty! A referee with integrity calls what he sees.
The issue is if he sees it differently.
Only the referee of that match can state why, based on THEIR personal angle of view.

We can offer conjecture and the armchair slow motion revamp of what we can safely offer with no worries or sanctions. The slide tackle ahead where the legs were extended and the foot turned 90 degrees certainly looked to hook the attacker on the ankle just ahead of the ball rolling out of bounds .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdsouU2CAI

I watched the above highlights in that game & there was an incident at each end where if a PK was awarded I think not a lot of controversy would have ensued.. Also the arm contact on the even up goal was awfully similar to an arm roll not off chest or top of shoulder? I think the goal could have been disallowed upon review without a great deal of controversy about that decision either?

On that slide tackle, did the attacker seek that foul out and ensure he moved his leg into where contact would occur? Possibly but for me, my opinion only, it was a foul .

In the other one where the attacker spun and collided with the defender or did the defender collide with the attacker creating a foul? I was leaning foul but not totally sold.

As an opinion it is of no concern, in the match it is ALWAYS a concern. Thus rests the difference between REAL TIME refereeing and QB armchair second guessing. No rebukes no VAR overtures thus decisions stand !
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Matthew,
Thank you for the question - my explanation is 'wrong decision'. One of the controversies of VAR in the EPL is that the VAR hasn't been intervening on clearcut penalty decisions like this one.
The defender slid in, missed the ball, tripped the attacker. I can't see any argument in favour of the original decision.
As for why the ref may not have given it - I can only guess that the ref either had his view completely obstructed, or he may have had doubts about whether there was contact, or whether the contact was sufficient for a foul or if it was a potential dive. With the replay we can clearly see it was a foul, but those are my guesses for why the referee didn't give it.
I'm also stumped as to how that wasn't given a handball in the leadup to the goal at the end of the clip.