The Ref Stop

Champions League: Extra Officials

Not sure if people fully understand what the AAR is to do. According to the LOTG:-
Duties
Where appointed, the additional assistant referees, subject to the decision of the referee, are to indicate:
• when the whole of the ball leaves the field of play over the goal line
• which team is entitled to a corner kick or goal kick
• when misconduct or any other incident occurs out of the view of the referee
• when offences have been committed whenever the additional assistant referees have a better view than the referee, particularly inside the penalty area
• whether, at penalty kicks, the goalkeeper moves off the goal line before the ball is kicked and if the ball crosses the line
Assistance
The additional assistant referees also help the referee to control the match in accordance with the Laws of the Game but the final decision will always be taken by the referee.

I also noted that it is the senior AAR that replaces the injured referee not the fourth official.

And finally:-
Signalling system for the additional assistant referees
The additional assistant referees will use a radio communication system only and not flags to communicate decisions to the referee.
In the event of a breakdown of the radio communication system, the additional assistant referees will use an electronic signal beep flagstick to indicate their decisions.
As a general rule, the additional assistant referee must not give obvious hand signals. However, in some instances, a discreet hand signal may give valuable support to the referee. The hand signal should have a clear meaning. The meaning should have been discussed and agreed upon in the pre-match discussion.

IMO because they don't signal or wave brightly coloured objects about, no one bar the refereeing team is going to hear what is being decided. They will always look useless but we don't know the value they add without the radio transcript. There has been some examples of their use (Webb/Clattenburg is such an example) but the majority will remain silent and look dumb as a result.

I don't think there will be many of us who will experience the AAR role because it's not something that will permeate down the football pyramid beyond FIFA levels.
 
The Ref Stop
@David Sutton ....I'm still firmly in the complete waste of time camp if that 5th official in the Arsenal game last night is not shouting " Corner ,Corner" in the refs ear then something is wrong .
 
David Sutton said:
Not sure if people fully understand what the AAR is to do. According to the LOTG:-
Duties
Where appointed, the additional assistant referees, subject to the decision of the referee, are to indicate:
..... • when offences have been committed whenever the additional assistant referees have a better view than the referee, particularly inside the penalty area.....
Click to expand...
UEFA came out with a lot of flashy adverts to launch the additional "assistants", with the likes of Collina saying "Now we see more". They see more do they? Seems to me they appear to ignore more. Lost count of how many incidents occur right in front of them and yet nothing is given.

Last night the line assistant and the statue behind the goal had a perfect view of the Chelsea penalty shout. How both of them failed to see it or failed to advise the man in the middle that it was a blatant handball is beyond me. :confused:
 
Saw that, fortunately from City's point of view the follow up hit the back of the net.

The 2 goal line incidents last night (Arsenal & Bayern) there was clear movement of the stick pointed to the centre circle. The AAR in the City match just didn't move.

At first I thought great clearance, but the replays show it was clearly over and the UEFA statue, I mean AAR had a good view. :confused:

Yet more ammunition for those of us who believe they are a complete waste of space!
 
Brian Hamilton said:
Until you have the audio feed from the comms between the officials as you hear during the RWC, you will never know what input the AARs are having.
Click to expand...
My point exactly, Brian. We just don't know what's happening and ultimately, the call is with the Ref.
 
The thing I get least about it is that they are on the same side as the assistant!

Surely they should be opposite side, take the Arsenal game the other day, you would have 2 opinions on that if he wasn't blocking the view of the AR
 
Darius said:
The thing I get least about it is that they are on the same side as the assistant!

Surely they should be opposite side, take the Arsenal game the other day, you would have 2 opinions on that if he wasn't blocking the view of the AR
Click to expand...
I remember reading/hearing somewhere that they originally did start on the opposition side to the assistant. However, the referees requested them to be moved to the other side due to the position affecting their diagonal run when they got close to the penalty area.
 
Mooseybaby said:
Saw that, fortunately from City's point of view the follow up hit the back of the net.

The 2 goal line incidents last night (Arsenal & Bayern) there was clear movement of the stick pointed to the centre circle. The AAR in the City match just didn't move.

At first I thought great clearance, but the replays show it was clearly over and the UEFA statue, I mean AAR had a good view. :confused:

Yet more ammunition for those of us who believe they are a complete waste of space!
Click to expand...

Brian Hamilton said:
Until you have the audio feed from the comms between the officials as you hear during the RWC, you will never know what input the AARs are having.
Click to expand...

In that case, one doesn't need to hear anything to know it was an inexplicably awful decision. Hearing the AAR say it wasn't a goal would only compound the offence!
 
bloovee said:
In that case, one doesn't need to hear anything to know it was an inexplicably awful decision. Hearing the AAR say it wasn't a goal would only compound the offence!
Click to expand...

The goal has been credited to Demichelis. The AAR was saying "goal, goal, goal" in the refs ear, but Otamendi had put the ball into the net before he'd had the chance to give it.

My apologies to the AAR, good decision!
 
If that's the case, millions of us owe him an apology! And maybe time they did have a flag!
 
Last edited:
Still not convinced the AAR in the City game gave the goal. His body language didn't suggest he saw it and after the ball went in and out again, he stepped and leaned forward to watch the line more closely. The goal scorer was corrected/changed by UEFA the following day. Was it a case of covering their backsides?

As with the previous goal line incidents that were given, in tonight's Arsenal vs Bayern match, the AAR makes a clear signal towards the centre circle (the City AAR didn't signal what so ever), Good spot by the official considering Neuer's body appeared to be blocking his view.

With Platini currently suspended and facing a potential ban, both FIFA & UEFA could be looking for new leaders. Platini has been a dissenting voice with regard to goal line technology, could UEFA's stance change with a new leader? If UEFA were to adopt goal line technology, surely that would kill off the extra officials.
 
With the City game, some media in Europe (reportedly) heard the audio of the referee feed stating "goal goal goal". Having said that, the AAR cannot do anything more (by direction) until the ref whistles the play. He's gotta keep watching play.

Shortly after that incident, the goal scorer was changed, and then there was a new brief memo out that gave the AARs some hand signals for goals (for example). One of which was seen in the second goal in the Arsenal/Bayern Munich game yesterday. Prior to the City game, the direction for AARs was _no_ visible signals at all.
 
Have not seen or heard about this memo to be honest.

With or without the memo, as I said previously, there were 2 goal line incidents in this season's CL prior to the City match, coincidentally involving both Bayern and Arsenal where the AARs clearly pointed to the centre circle, just like last night, I presume they would have also been shouting in the referee's ear. For me, the City AAR's body language wasn't of someone who had just seen the ball cross the line, regardless of whether he continued watching the action or not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top