Runner Ref
Well-Known Member
I completely forgot that De Ligt ever played for Peterborough
"HEAD INJURY REF... F-IN HEAD INJURY"
- Thread starter The Ginger Ref
- Start date
Career trajectory predictionI completely forgot that De Ligt ever played for Peterborough
Fletcher, Ferguson, both start with the same letter. And there is an obvious linkI completely forgot that De Ligt ever played for Peterborough
socal lurker
RefChat Addict
unfortunately that would lead to its own kind of gamesmanship, too.
Runner Ref
Well-Known Member
We wouldn’t be in this place if players/clubs were honest. But as results are more important than honesty/integrity, we find ourselves where we are.
This was trialled many years ago. What happened, the defending team (or the team temporarily down to 10 men) kicked the ball towards where the player & physio were so the game had to be stopped.
They also trialled just playing on when a player was clearly faking injury. I specifically remember a CL game between Deportivo La Coruna & Man Utd where the Depor forward had dived to get a pen and stayed down 'injured'. The ref made them take the corner and just left the 'injured' player on the floor in the box. The players made such an issue of it and it was such a mess that not long after it was consigned to the bin.
Ultimately whatever law changes come in to stop cheating, they will never work and officials can never be 100% sure that someone isn't injured so we will always air on the side of caution. Football is full of cheats. I cheated myself yesterday when I revieved a 'nudge' whilst defending near the corner flag to win a cheap free kick. It's just fully ingrained in our game like dissent is. These issues weren't dealt with at the top level when they started to creep in and now it's ingrained and we will have to deal with these situations forever.
As refs we just have to accept we will never win in these situations. Perfect example in our top league here 2 weeks ago. Players challenge for an aerial ball 25 yards out. Shoulder to chest contact. Defender sees the attacker has won the ball and starts holding his head & rolling around. Ref takes a look, isn't sure and the the attacker scores from 25 yards out. There is no way for the ref to win in that situation. The defender was cheating. But for us it's best to take the path of least resistance there & stop the game.
socal lurker
RefChat Addict
If leagues really care about this, there are league based ways to improve. Fine the player and the team, with escalating fines. And suspend a player after a certain number of offenses. (Or count each offense to YC accumulation.) And give a point penalty to teams with excessive repeat offenses. But the leagues don’t want to take on the responsibility.
How do you prove that someone doesn't have a head injury. Especially at a time when there's lots of litigation for brain injuries from ex footballers. Players know they put the officials in an impossible position to the advantage of their team. That's why they do it
Cautions for feigning injury are already in the LOTG but it is probably up there as one of the hardest sells.
Who would be the arbitrator for fines and suspensions? Sounds like a lot of effort for the referee to report and then for the league to manage.
Love the idea... not sure of the implementation.
Runner Ref
Well-Known Member
I love @socal lurker idea and I’d love it to work- I just don’t think it would.
As I’ve said numerous times; football is not an honest sport. It is played by cheats who are more concerned with winning than they are honesty. To a point I get it, the stakes within football these days are so high, that staying in a job, getting a contract, getting a bonus comes down to very fine margins.
But on this basis, people need to be more honest with themselves on this stuff. Don’t moan when a referee is conned by someone cheating.
As I’ve said numerous times; football is not an honest sport. It is played by cheats who are more concerned with winning than they are honesty. To a point I get it, the stakes within football these days are so high, that staying in a job, getting a contract, getting a bonus comes down to very fine margins.
But on this basis, people need to be more honest with themselves on this stuff. Don’t moan when a referee is conned by someone cheating.
Don't know if it is just an England thing, but leagues cannot take any action for on-pitch infractions until the CFA have charged and completed disciplinary proceedings. There's no way a league could take action against a player or team that hasn't been charged by their CFA and found guilty.
socal lurker
RefChat Addict
Interesting. Sports leagues in the US have a lot more autonomy, though how they can discipline players can be limited/controlled by the collective bargaining agreement between the teams and the player’s union.
Not every faking can be proven, of course. But there is more chance to do it with video evidence than with just what the R has seen in the run of play.