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The most egregious example of burying the lede I’ve seen in a long time. Talk about sweeping it under the rug. Shameful.

We’ll see if this has any more success than the Respect the Ref campaign has had in curbing abuse toward referees. I think my prediction on this is pretty obvious.

From grassroots to the elite level, the belief of fans that they can have a go at officials with impunity is getting worse. Example from last night. I’m mentoring a young crew on a U19 friendly. AR2 correctly keeps the flag down on a possible offside because the attacker in an offside position...

I’ve said it before-a few of these people who post about being corrupt should be sued for defamation. Accounts are tied to emails, so it would be easy to tie back to a person. Get a few people liable for damages, publicize it, and we’ll see how tough people are to accuse corruption behind a...

I take no joy in saying this, but I think we will see a major physical altercation involving a match official in a high-profile professional league before the Champions League final. The attitude toward officials is extremely toxic right now, and there will be an incident that causes someone to...

Sartini has claimed he was joking, but the idea of “joking” about a referee’s death is not close to appropriate. I don’t see any material difference between this and “I’m going to kill him”, as we have learned what vague and indirect language can lead to in the last few years. To continue the...

As @es1 stated, there was a VAR review for offside on the ensuing LAFC counterattack, and the goal was disallowed. I read the tweet and tried to think of a context where Sartini’s comments are close to acceptable. I can’t think of one. Sartini is absolutely known as a loose cannon at the best...

https://twitter.com/TheRealJJAdams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1721368111805534504%7Ctwgr%5E7fd60c52c9dc8d0dc58881cbbd20814d5b3a2d94%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigsoccer.com%2Fthreads%2F2023-mls-round-1-match-2-referee-discussion.2128262%2Fpage-3 Vancouver...

As I’ve said, we have swung too far to having to “check a bunch of boxes” to get to a send off. In this case, too many people are just saying “well, he didn’t connect him at his knee with a straight leg studs up, so not a red card”. Havertz connects with a lot of his body weight at speed on a...

I’ve watched it again. I still have no idea how the Havertz challenge was not a red. Havertz gets the plant leg with a lot of his body weight after flying/launching. If we are at a point where the only way you can get a red is to nail someone in the knee with the studs straight-legged, then I...

For those who are saying the Havertz challenge was a caution-what else would have been needed for you to call that a SFP red? High speed, high force into the plant leg. Havertz comes lunging/flying in. I fail to see how that isn’t endangering the safety of the player. I’m a neutral in this...

It was offside, but yet another one of those plays where if you were just looking at the play without using Hawkeye lines you'd probably have the play "stand as called" (as I'd prefer offside positions adjudged instead of using the lines, but I know that's not going to happen in England or UEFA...

Also, if you aren't planning to go to a gym a lot during this time, I'd invest in some fitness bands - both larger bands with handles and "mini-bands" (I've linked to one example of the mini-bands. Between the bands and some fairly basic bodyweight exercises, you should also be able to at least...

This blog post from a US National referee has some overall points about in-season vs off-season training. https://dynamicathletetraining.com/blog/off-season-vs-in-season-training

What I'll write next is my personal opinion based on my age (mid-40s) and what I feel like I can handle to limit injuries, be mentally sharp, and still have time for my family and full-time job. During the fall, that is our college season in addition to club games. I will normally work one...

Sounds like these meetings are much like our local referee association meetings as well. Lots of veteran referees who are more interested in sharing war stories than in discussing relevant issues. Of course, there is a time and place for these war stories so younger officials can learn from the...

I've been in several pretty public jobs in my career. I always use the guideline that if I wouldn't want to see it on the front page of my local paper or as the lead story on my local newscast, I probably shouldn't post it on social media. I live in a city that has a VERY close-knit soccer...

While I do think “making a run” is overkill, the general advice of always be in motion and varying your position is sound. I was on a webinar a few years ago with a well-respected MLS referee. The topic was positioning, and he illustrated how even a short 5-10 yard sprint or 2-3 shuffle steps...

The media clearly wants controversy and argument above all else. They could not care less about what is “right”, what the referee viewpoint is, etc. They want the officials to be a punching bag, and then we wonder why grassroots referees are treated as they are.

Michael Oliver is a member of the onfield officiating crew. Why wouldn’t he be a part of the communication process? He’s one of the two most senior referees in England. I know if I were on his crew and he said “we may be screwing this up” while he was the fourth, I’d sure as hell listen to him.