The Ref Stop

Palace v Man City FAC

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Shouldn't matter if players appeal or not. You know that.
As referees we have to give what we see, not what's appealed.
And you have to admit that the assistant is best placed to see this, even a few yards back.
I’m not suggesting they make a decision based on appeal, I’m just pointing out that even the player challenging for the ball hadn’t realised it was handball
 
The Ref Stop
I think you're missing my point. The whole system is flawed (ie what VAR can and can't give etc). At the end of the day VAR has spotted that the keeper handled outside the area and not even handball was given, let alone DOGSO. When the ref sees that incident on TV I think he'll feel let down by the system
They can only work to the protocol that exists, and that doesn't allow them to intervene for free kicks unless it is the outcome from a sending off offence. Whilst I understand the frustration this can cause, people already complain about the amount of VAR intervention and it would be 10 times more intrusive if they were also checking for missed free kicks.
 
I totally understand that, but this is a shocking decision. Maybe a game of this magnitude should have cameras looking at all areas of the match. The BBC showed the correct angle within seconds
 
Think you have your logic the wrong way around there. You say it is a possible DOGSO, but DOGSO is all they can check for, they can't just check for a handball and recommend the referee awards a free kick. They could only recommend a review for DOGSO and if the referee went with their recommendation the outcome would be a red card and DFK. VAR didn't fail to spot the handball, rather they saw it and determined, wrongly in my opinion, that it wasn't DOGSO as Haaland was moving away from goal.
Given the dynamics of what happened, why did VAR decide if it was DOGSO or not. Once HB was identified, surely Atwell shouldve been given the responsibility of refereeing the KMS by going to the screen. Even if Atwell decided it was not DOGSO, it wouldve been a DFK and caution for SPA. Why didnt that happen?
 
I hought they could issue a caution if a review deemed no red card
VAR rightly reffed the HB but only Atwell should referee the DOGSO
Its all such a mess. They can fabricate 98% stats but they just wrongly had a colossal impact on the outco.e of the FA Cup Final. The very thing VAR is there to prevent
 
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My thinking on this is that one of two things "probably" happened.

1)
Referee has seen it.
For this example, if the referee has seen it then the conversation with VAR is as follows:
VAR: Possible handball
Ref: Seen, going away from goal so not red.
VAR: Checking. On field decision confirmed.
Thus no further action.

2)
Referee has not seen it.
VAR: Possible handball
Ref: Not seen it.
VAR: We think it is going away from goal so not a red card but we can confirm it is a handball.
Ref: So no further action?
VAR: Confirmed.

Now.. If the referee has seen it, as per 1 (meaning on field decision), then he is wrong to not blow and give free kick.
If the referee hasn't seen it, and VAR says it is a missed handball I personally think it should be highlighted and any final call on red cards should solely be with the referee on the pitch.
 
I am going to argue in defence of VAR using semantics like a lawyer would 😊

Is it an obvious GSO? Yes - this is the bar for a referee
Is it clear and obvious that it is an obvious GSO? No. This is the bar for VAR which would be much higher than for the one for referee (mathematical equivalent is when you square a number)


This shows where the ball would have ended up without the offence and offender
1747564444546.png


This shows where the defender would have ended up without the offence and offender
1747564517300.png
 
Given the dynamics of what happened, why did VAR decide if it was DOGSO or not. Once HB was identified, surely Atwell shouldve been given the responsibility of refereeing the KMS by going to the screen. Even if Atwell decided it was not DOGSO, it wouldve been a DFK and caution for SPA. Why didnt that happen?

I think that is what irking me about this, the on field team failed to spot a clear and obvious factual decision in terms of a keeper handling outside of the box. If that happened on its own with no attacker in sight, then yes obviously don't get involved but when there is more than a sniff of a DOGSO involved then even if you don't fully think it's a DOGSO yourself, get the referee involved, take him to the screen because he made a clear error of not awarding a free kick and let him decide on the sanction.

I think there would be less noise about this if the referee given the free kick and a yellow card and the VAR did not intervene because of his reasons but the fact he given nothing and the VAR basically decided in his opinion it's not a DOGSO is what seems wrong about it.
 
Lets take the handball away.
If he does NOT handle the ball, Haaland pokes the ball past Henderson.
What is next?
Haaland has a clear chance of scoring a goal OR Henderson could very easily take Haaland out.
Instead, Henderson has affectively cheated by handballing the ball away from Haaland, denying him the opportunity to equalise, and was not penalised whatsoever (even with a free kick).
 
I’m not suggesting they make a decision based on appeal, I’m just pointing out that even the player challenging for the ball hadn’t realised it was handball
Dean Henderson after the match suggested the ball carried through into the box, how genuine this that he was unaware, but it seems that no one but the cameras detected this offence at the time with even Henderson not realising he had committed a handball offence.

@ladbroke8745 I think you are in a minority here and are massively overstating how bad a miss this was from the on-field team.

The AR from that position absolutely cannot give a definitive decision with confidence and anything is nothing short of a guess and no referee in the world is going to be in a position to call it from the long ball so I think from an on-field perspective they did not have the necessary information to make the decision on field.
 
I think VAR protocols need to be ammended, if that's the case, to help make this scenario a yellow and DFK minimum with intervention.

I think it's DOGSO and Palace were very much aided by referee error.

I also think the penalty was an error too.
 
I hought they could issue a caution if a review deemed no red card
VAR rightly reffed the HB but only Atwell should referee the DOGSO
Its all such a mess. They can fabricate 98% stats but they just wrongly had a colossal impact on the outco.e of the FA Cup Final. The very thing VAR is there to prevent
Yes they can come away from the monitor with any decision they choose. They have to first be asked to view the monitor though.
 
Dean Henderson after the match suggested the ball carried through into the box, how genuine this that he was unaware, but it seems that no one but the cameras detected this offence at the time with even Henderson not realising he had committed a handball offence.

@ladbroke8745 I think you are in a minority here and are massively overstating how bad a miss this was from the on-field team.

The AR from that position absolutely cannot give a definitive decision with confidence and anything is nothing short of a guess and no referee in the world is going to be in a position to call it from the long ball so I think from an on-field perspective they did not have the necessary information to make the decision on field.
I don't think I am.

The assistant can clearly see the edge of the area, can clearly see the keeper is on the edge and has an outstretched arm outside.
 
Dean Henderson after the match suggested the ball carried through into the box, how genuine this that he was unaware, but it seems that no one but the cameras detected this offence at the time with even Henderson not realising he had committed a handball offence.
I saw this and i think he wasn't being truthful. His body language showed this.

He is quite likley to have seen this incident at half-time with all the tech involved in the game.
 
Yes they can come away from the monitor with any decision they choose. They have to first be asked to view the monitor though.
And this is definitely one of those.

On a yellow card, minimum, he wouldn't have wasted time in the 2nd half and if so, considering he was cautioned for this, he would've walked anyway.
 
I don't think I am.

The assistant can clearly see the edge of the area, can clearly see the keeper is on the edge and has an outstretched arm outside.
But he can't definitively pinpoint the point of contact. He is moving along the line so is also dealing with the effects of flash lag too. And it takes everyone by surprise what happens so would have needed his focus directly on that at the exact second. Given he was behind play he would have been working hard and fretting about getting into position.

Any assistant referee, from that position, is guessing
 
I don't think I am.

The assistant can clearly see the edge of the area, can clearly see the keeper is on the edge and has an outstretched arm outside.
I think the assistant was not in the right place to see as he was 3 or 4 yards "out of line" - behind play.
 
I saw this and i think he wasn't being truthful. His body language showed this.

He is quite likley to have seen this incident at half-time with all the tech involved in the game.
I agree.. that's why I questioned the genuine nature of the comments. Not beyond the realms of impossibility though.
 
I think the assistant was not in the right place to see as he was 3 or 4 yards "out of line" - behind play.

Screenshot_20250517_203555_Samsung Internet.jpg

I appreciate the assistant is about 4 yards behind but if you're looking directly (and unobstructed) at that you can clearly see Henderson is on the line and his arm outstretched.

Unlike park football where the pitch is uneven, this field is perfect. Lines extremely clear to see.
 
View attachment 8152

I appreciate the assistant is about 4 yards behind but if you're looking directly (and unobstructed) at that you can clearly see Henderson is on the line and his arm outstretched.

Unlike park football where the pitch is uneven, this field is perfect. Lines extremely clear to see.
I'd say I agree with this. I'd like to think an AR at this level would have enough knowledge to realise where Hendersons foot is in relation to his arm
 
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