Would've been marked down in a County level Observation. A mandatory caution at any level, at any stage of any gameFirst challenge for the referee - should have cautioned the Sweden player for the professional foul. Is it a start of a weak performance?
Kind of agree with you, but this one was so blatant she simply couldn't manage it. Would have been a great challenge in rugby, but as obvious an SPA caution as you will ever see.Haven't seen it not watching but this is exactly the kind of game where the mandate of keeping 11 on the field appears to take precedent, with what we see as nails on cautions being managed
I also sympathize with the officials, as they have bosses and need to call matches as their bosses want them to call it. They won’t work in the league otherwise. The problem is that people watch these games, see what isn’t punished, and then go nuts when we do punish those things on a Saturday morning at the park. They see the dissent, abuse, tactical fouls, etc go unpunished on TV, then we get the brunt of the abuse when we do what the Laws say.I was at a Women's Super League game last season, one that was unusually held in the main stadium. The referee failed to caution at least three times in the first 20 minutes (the first caution was on 23 mins).
Later I got to speak with the referee. It was clear that she knew she really should be cautioning but was wrestling with 'not spoiling the occasion'. I have some sympathy with her position. This was a much higher profile match than normal and this is an entertainment product. If she's viewed as having damaged the product it might effect what appointments she gets.