Interesting observation

[OldNavyRef]

Regarding the briefing part I would be careful.

As the observer will know they didn't sit in the pre-match briefing so they may have slipped it in to their debrief questioning to you without you noticing "did you brief this to the assistants".

Or they might have asked one/both of the assistants without you knowing: "was this mentioned in the pre-match brief".

So you might put your appeal in, and have it immediately dismissed for the above two reasons.

 

[dylanbailey4444]

Was this 5-4? As @Kes has said, you have limited options to challenge this. If the observer says you flashed cards, and you can't persuade him otherwise in the debrief, you flashed cards. No different to if he said you missed a penalty or a red card, that would be his opinion versus yours and his will always win out.

That said, if he has commented on your pre-match instructions when he wasn't there I would definitely be challenging that. It may be that he has observed multiple games in a short time period and mixed incidents from both up, but this is something you could clearly evidence was wrong as your assistants could presumably confirm that he wasn't there when you briefed them.

Generally speaking, to appeal an observation one or both of the below have to be true ...

• The observer was incorrect in law. e.g you had a retake on a penalty and what he said should be the restart was actually incorrect in law. This shouldn't happen, but it certainly has.
• The mark awarded doesn't match the written text. e.g. you've been given 6.5 or below but there is no timed evidence in that section to justify it. Or you have been given 7.0 but there is evidence based on the text that you should have been judged as above standard and therefore 7.5.

Yes, it was a 5-4. I don’t really want to get into the grounds of appealing it and I spoke to my coach and he said that it was very strange and he’s not sure how the observer can comment on my pre match if he didn't listen to it.

 

[RustyRef]

Yes, it was a 5-4. I don’t really want to get into the grounds of appealing it and I spoke to my coach and he said that it was very strange and he’s not sure how the observer can comment on my pre match if he didn't listen to it.

That is certainly odd and probably would stand up to an appeal. I can only assume one of two things, most likely is he asked one of your ARs during the game what was covered in the pre-match instructions. Or the other is he has done multiple games before writing them up and has mixed up situations from different games.

 

[RefereeX]

That is certainly odd and probably would stand up to an appeal. I can only assume one of two things, most likely is he asked one of your ARs during the game what was covered in the pre-match instructions. Or the other is he has done multiple games before writing them up and has mixed up situations from different games.

Surely an observer should not be asking assistants what was covered in pre-match instructions though. The AR may not have been paying attention and that would not be the referees fault!

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

Yes, it was a 5-4. I don’t really want to get into the grounds of appealing it and I spoke to my coach and he said that it was very strange and he’s not sure how the observer can comment on my pre match if he didn't listen to it.

In my county, anything of this nature should result in a call or e-mail from the referee to the Observer Appointments Secretary, as it needs a review.

 

[RustyRef]

Surely an observer should not be asking assistants what was covered in pre-match instructions though. The AR may not have been paying attention and that would not be the referees fault!

Completely agree, but on the same basis the observer shouldn't be putting something significant in the report that wasn't discussed in the debrief. Just as there are some poor referees operating there are also some poor observers.