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I completed my 12th Supply League Assessment of the current season yesterday and after the game, it was the referee seeking my confirmation of his action, rather than me seeking to clarify a situation. In essence what happened was that a player showed dissent by word as the game was ongoing. So as not to disadvantage his opponents who were in the attacking third and in possession of the ball, the referee allowed play to continue and at the next break in play, he called the player towards him with the obvious intention of cautioning him. As he reached for his notebook, the player clapped him and said something to the effect of "Well done ref". He therefore issued a caution for the original dissent and then issued a second caution for...

Former Swiss referee boss Urs Meier is shocked that four of twelve Swiss top referees will quit after this season. He warns the Football Association that there will be more refereeing problems in the future if the FA does not change it’s policy. And Switzerland is not the only country which has to worry about their refereeing future, says Urs Meier in an interview with by the Dutch Referee Blog and World of Football Refereeing. Last month Damien Carrel (30), Cyril Zimmermann (36) Daniel Wermelinger (41) and Ludovic Gremaud (32) announced their retirement as Swiss referee. They’ll stop after this season due to lack of respect and lack of financial support. Urs Meier, who was Swiss referee boss from 2007 untill 2011: “I was a bit shocked...

I'm a reasonably happy chappy bumbling through my late 40s rapidly advancing on becoming a grandad for the first time but occasionally I get knocked off my path and I find myself falling into a slight dip in my positive outlook. Over the last few weeks I have attended two games to assess the referee for promotion and both have been abandoned. Last week I picked up a District Cup backword, turned up at the ground only for the away team not to show. On Sunday I picked up another backword, this time for a Sunday League Trophy game with a place in the Quarter Final at stake, but the home team haven't paid some fines and have been suspended for a minimum of 7 days meaning the game has been postponed. So is it me or do I just have a...

Referees in the media will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading. “That decision was incorrect. The contact was minimal and Heskey probably played for the penalty. The referee wasn’t well positioned and it was a harsh decision.” New Australian referee boss Ben Wilson is making firm statements about referee Ben Williams and his assistants. They made three of four big calls wrong. When I was 15 my dad literally dragged me off a pitch after I swore at a ref. Lesson was learnt! Never tackled anyone either. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) oktober 17, 2012 There is so much happening in modern football and this course where video...

Referee Nestor Guillen showed 36 brawling players and staff a red card in a junior league match in Paraguay. In the match between Teniente Farina und Libertad Club players and reserves all stormed on the pitch after the referee gave to red cards, describes this newspaper. After the brawl the referee wrote on the match report he gave 36 red cards, which might be a world record. Hernan Martinez, president of the home club, Teniente Farina, says: “Many of the players that were on the field and on the substitutes’ bench, everyone went on to the field to try to control their team mates and even the players from the other team.” You can find more reactions in this news article about the 36 red cards by Reuters. I’ve added the video below...

Football players are stars in blaming the assistant and center referee for their own mistakes. This video below is a perfect example. In the Polish top league match between Zagłębie Lubin – Legia Warsaw a corner kick needs to be taken. However, the player doesn’t take a good look at the assistant referee and kicks him first, before touching the ball. Because he’s neutral, the ball is considered to be taken by referee Daniel Stefanski. He let the play continue. An opponent nearby sees it and captures the ball and walks away with it. The video below shows bad passes in the beginning followed by the stupid corner kick. Looks pretty odd. Which of you does know the official guideluines for assistant referee’s positioning at a corner kick...

The validity of the decision to leave the roof open at the stadium in Warsaw hosting the Poland vs. England World Cup Qualifier is one for discussion elsewhere. What couldn't be disputed was the action taken by the referee to help him decide whether the surface was playable after heavy rain left water standing in a number of places around the field. He used the same method used by referees across the world; he went out, in his boots and took a football with him. He tried to replicate the action of the ball during the game by rolling it along the ground, by throwing it in the air to see if it bounced. He threw it with forward spin, back spin and without spin. In the final inspection, he tried to kick the ball without much success. In...

Referees in the media will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading. “In Berlin, there’s luckily everything: big, small, fat, thin, black, white, ugly, pretty. Nevertheless, a midget is still attracting more attention.” Cem Yazirlioglu, with 1m38 the smallest referee in German leagues, who wants to climb up the German referee ranks. “It’s nice with all the countries represented and the different thinking and different attitudes, it’s really interesting. It’s not always easy to get people from all these different backgrounds thinking along the same lines, but Sonia (Denoncourt, jth) does the job very well.” Sports psychologist...

I spent last weekend assessing two promotion candidates for the County FA who were both aspiring to Level 4. Saturday's game went reasonably well but Sunday's was abandoned after 61 minutes when the away team had their 5th player sent off. Not something I've seen before, which was the theme of my last post on this blog and hopefully I'll not see again! Today's two games (both U15) threw up a few situations which made me take a breath before deciding what to do. The first was a goal kick that the home team goalkeeper decided to take across the face of his goal towards his left back. The ball wasn't rolling well so the full back and an attacker both ran inside the penalty area. They challenged for the ball and the left back trips the...

Penalty takers try to mislead the goalie very often, but not all tricks work out as they were meant. Have a look at this bluff penalty. Don’t know the league or competition, but it’s not important to explain the rules of the game. The football Laws of the Game by Fifa state that ‘the player taking the kick must be properly identified’. Seeing the video it suggests someone else than the person who actually kicked the ball was the taker. So that means a violation of the procedures. The actual taker ‘infringes the Laws of the Game’. Also in the Laws of the Game about taking a penalty kick and a teammate infringing the rules: the referee allows the kick to be taken if the ball enters the goal, the kick is retaken if the ball does not enter...

In the referees dressing room: now in the referees changing room of the ADO Den Haag. It’s the club in the city I live in. Referee Azzopardi and her Maltese team check the pitch at ADO Den Haag. Two weeks ago I published the interview with Maltese referee Esther Azzopardi. Shortly thereafter she got an appointment for the match between ADO Den Haag ladies versus Rossiyanka from Russia in Uefa Women’s Champions League. We met in person at the stadium, which was really nice. I also got the chance to see the referees dressing room and the inspection of the pitch by the referee team. Thanks to the press officer I got some high quality photo’s of the referees dressing room. ADO Den Haag referees dressing room: the shower. ADO Den Haag...

Referee Mikko Lehtola allows a goal for HJK Helsinki in the Finnish top league. Opponents from Haka are confused though, because there was an extra ball on the pitch. Would you allow the goal? Check the situation and video below and then read what the Laws of the Game say about two balls on the field. This is the situation, described by the YouTube user who uploaded the video, in the top league in Finland about a week ago: “HJK Helsinki, top of the Veikkausliiga with five games of the season remaining, travelled on Monday night to Haka who are bottom of the table but will plenty of hope of staying in the premier division in Finland. Haka raced into a 2-0 lead in the first half and looked set to secure a huge win until the 57th minute...

Referees in the media will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading. “It is simply sad that the referee has stolen us the victory. My arm was shot from felt 10 cms, should I chop my arm off?” It’s not just the quote from Neven Subotić that’s interesting. It’s the analysis of a penalty given by Pavel Královec on the blog World of Football Refereeing. “I’m not going to judge the referees. That’s up to members of the commision at the stadium. But I think it’s good that referees are explaining their decisions. That’s what everyone’s asking for. We never gave any comments, nor the referee committee or the referee. At media’s and Pro...

logo CNRA California North Referee Administration (CNRA) organised a special meeting with the American referees at the London Olympics last summer. Tim Weyland, State Director of Instruction for CNRA, speaks with Kari Seitz, Veronica Perez and Marlene Duffy. The refereeing trio als posted their stories during the Olympics in their Journal of the soccer referees representing the USA at the London Olympic Games 2012. For Kari Seitz it was her third consecutive appointment for an Olympic tournament. The trio got the opening match and a quarter final, but was send home afterwards – the US team reached the final. The team was disappointed, but had many good experiences. “We’ve loved every minute of the games and we owe a large part of that...

Never seen a strange referee whistle like this. Push the balloon and the whistle blows. Yeah, it actually works. Strange referee whistle The post The strangest referee whistle I’ve ever seen appeared first on Dutch Referee Blog. Continue reading...

Its all very well being clever so long as it works, otherwise you look a fool. Would of been interesting though had the penalty kick have gone in. Filed under: Video, youtube Tagged: Match Incident, Penalty Kick Continue reading...

The title doesnt quite do this video full justice. JK Helsinki, travelled on Monday night to Haka. Haka were leading 2-0 when all hell broke loose. An HJK attack down the left was cleared out for a throw. HJK subsequently took two throw-ins! One near the corner flag and the Haka goal, the other by the centre circle. Cue mass rage from Haka and confusion as the referee ignores all protests and awards a goal to league leaders HJK Helsinki. Filed under: Season 2012/13, Video, youtube Tagged: Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi, Helsinki Continue reading...

Referees in the media will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading. (You missed it last week, because I was busy doing job interviews. Yes, got a new job!) “Offside? That’s when they draw a line on tv, right?” Professor Private Law André Nuytinck at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He’s not a regular football watcher (you won’t believe it if you check André Nuytinck’s Twitter account), but is proud dad of his son Bram Nuytinck, who’s playing for Anderlecht at the moment. “Let’s make an analogy with a player who misses a penalty, if you do not say anything and let it out for six months, it does not mean he is going to come back...

Saturday 6th October Manchester City v Sunderland (12.45pm) Referee: L Probert Assistants: R Ganfield, D Bryan Fourth Official: M Atkinson Chelsea v Norwich City (3pm) Referee: A Taylor Assistants: A Halliday, S Beck Fourth Official: M Halsey Swansea City v Reading (3pm) Referee: M Dean Assistants: J Collin, J Brooks Fourth Official: S Hooper West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers (3pm) Referee: M Jones Assistants: S Burt, D England Fourth Official: R Madley Wigan Athletic v Everton (3pm) Referee: K Friend Assistants: J Flynn, M Scholes Fourth Official: L Mason West Ham United v Arsenal (5.30pm) Referee: P Dowd Assistants: S Ledger, M McDonough Fourth Official: A Marriner Sunday 7th October Southampton v Fulham (1.30pm) Referee...

After more than 12 years involvement in a refereeing, it's rare that something happens which makes me go hmmmm. This morning I had a Cup game to referee between two open age teams who have "interesting" disciplinary records this season. Although I never try to pre-judge players or teams, I do have a strategy to deal with certain situations. This morning's strategy was to strangle the game in the first 10 minutes, then ease off if things quietened down. Things almost went to plan but a 3 cautions and a penalty in the first half hour meant it would take something unusual to bring this one completely under control. And that's when it fell into my lap and had players questioning my action but in a good way. It was a simple course of...