The Ref Stop

Missing which player committed the foul

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FC555

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Interesting one in an OA super low level league today, I'll try to describe as best as I can.

Striker from team A is chasing down a random long ball, right next to him is a defender(1) from team B also chasing back, we also have team B's goalkeeper coming out. There's also another defender (2)from Team B chasing back several feet away, I remember thinking seconds before if we have a foul from defender 1 here, defender 2 is close enough for 1 to not be 'last man'.

What happens next is the keeper, defender 1 and the striker all get there more or less at the same time. I can see that one of the defending team just about somewhat pokes the ball out to the side but then clatters into the striker with the follow through, definitely a foul in my view.

Here's my issue - the moment of the coming together, someone runs right across the front of me and I completely miss whether it was the keeper or defender that actually committed the foul. All I'm certain about is that it was on the edge of the box so not a penalty.

I knew instantly that my positioning let me down here, as I was running straight back towards the penalty area behind the players instead of giving myself a wider angle.

I didn't have official AR's and didn't think I could rely on the CAR for this one. I simply have no idea which player deserves to be carded here, it would have been a 50/50 guess and I didn't fancy getting that wrong.

So I only gave what I actually saw properly - free kick, no cards to anyone. You can imagine the uproar, rather interesting considering it was a meaningless game between 2 bottom teams with literally nothing to play for.

Obviously positioning was the issue for me here but just thought I'd share for any input. Given that whoever committed the foul definitely attempted to play the ball(and somewhat did), but still committed a dogso, is this a yellow for whoever it was? Or would it be a red as it was outside the box? I've overthought this to the point where I'm no longer sure.
 
The Ref Stop
FC555 said:
Interesting one in an OA super low level league today, I'll try to describe as best as I can.

Striker from team A is chasing down a random long ball, right next to him is a defender(1) from team B also chasing back, we also have team B's goalkeeper coming out. There's also another defender (2)from Team B chasing back several feet away, I remember thinking seconds before if we have a foul from defender 1 here, defender 2 is close enough for 1 to not be 'last man'.

What happens next is the keeper, defender 1 and the striker all get there more or less at the same time. I can see that one of the defending team just about somewhat pokes the ball out to the side but then clatters into the striker with the follow through, definitely a foul in my view.

Here's my issue - the moment of the coming together, someone runs right across the front of me and I completely miss whether it was the keeper or defender that actually committed the foul. All I'm certain about is that it was on the edge of the box so not a penalty.

I knew instantly that my positioning let me down here, as I was running straight back towards the penalty area behind the players instead of giving myself a wider angle.

I didn't have official AR's and didn't think I could rely on the CAR for this one. I simply have no idea which player deserves to be carded here, it would have been a 50/50 guess and I didn't fancy getting that wrong.

So I only gave what I actually saw properly - free kick, no cards to anyone. You can imagine the uproar, rather interesting considering it was a meaningless game between 2 bottom teams with literally nothing to play for.

Obviously positioning was the issue for me here but just thought I'd share for any input. Given that whoever committed the foul definitely attempted to play the ball(and somewhat did), but still committed a dogso, is this a yellow for whoever it was? Or would it be a red as it was outside the box? I've overthought this to the point where I'm no longer
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Think based on that am going yc for the defender,
Sounds like someone needs to be carded, rather than nobody
No problem with being apologetic here either, guys, its a foul, and from my view it was you, rather than an authoritive stern stance.

suppose learning point is, when you know that big call is coming, as it reads like you did, just keep on your toes and be ready to change angle at the last second
 
Anubis said:
Think based on that am going yc for the defender,
Sounds like someone needs to be carded, rather than nobody
No problem with being apologetic here either, guys, its a foul, and from my view it was you, rather than an authoritive stern stance.

suppose learning point is, when you know that big call is coming, as it reads like you did, just keep on your toes and be ready to change angle at the last second
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Thank you, yes reflecting on it I'll certainly do what I can to not be caught like that again. I won't lie that I bottled the card a little bit, I suppose given that someone committed the foul I could have just picked one but i genuinely had no idea. Luckily it didn't have a major impact on the score...

On the 'upside', today included the first penalty I've ever given, took 3 games, and I was certain of this call. Thankfully the defender made it rather easy for me to call!
 
FC555 said:
Thank you, yes reflecting on it I'll certainly do what I can to not be caught like that again. I won't lie that I bottled the card a little bit, I suppose given that someone committed the foul I could have just picked one but i genuinely had no idea. Luckily it didn't have a major impact on the score...

On the 'upside', today included the first penalty I've ever given, took 3 games, and I was certain of this call. Thankfully the defender made it rather easy for me to call!
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Could be seen as sensible not to simply card if unsure.
Swings and roundabouts
Obv had either gk or defender prev been booked, my random card goes to the other one
Issuing the card be a wee test of man managment, selling the card in such a way that you dont come across as guessing, but, also not coming across obnoxious and rigid in accusing one player
 
This is similar to one I have mentioned on here before. Contrib game where I was being assessed and two defenders were chasing down an attacker, and he was taken out. Clear DOGSO but I didn't have a clue who did it, and to confound the mess I'd got myself into I then forgot which two defenders were chasing him. Went to speak to the active AR and he couldn't help, and no way I could credibly go to the other AR. So I winged it by pulling out my wallet, making sure yellow was visibible and shouted "yes please", with really no expectation it was going to work. Luckily the player started walking over so the wallet went away and the red came out from my back pocket.

The assessor after made it clear that he knew I had got lucky, and it taught me to be much more vigilant and say player numbers out loud to help me.
 
Not sure it'd necessarily help in this scenario but could buy some thinking time by going to "chat" with the credible CAR?

This obviously assumes how they've been all match and a few other assumptions about their personality... but a quick "I've got a foul by #5 and a YC", possibly adding "What view did you have, #5 or #3?"

Might get a useful response but also add to your credibility. And if you're wrong they might just throw the correct offender under the bus.
 
DAW7 said:
Not sure it'd necessarily help in this scenario but could buy some thinking time by going to "chat" with the credible CAR?

This obviously assumes how they've been all match and a few other assumptions about their personality... but a quick "I've got a foul by #5 and a YC", possibly adding "What view did you have, #5 or #3?"

Might get a useful response but also add to your credibility. And if you're wrong they might just throw the correct offender under the bus.
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In hindsight he was fine all game and possibly would have helped me out, I just assumed he'd tell me he saw no foul or that he'd become a target for the other team once I gave the yellow (they were all expecting a red based on the 'last man' and ignoring the fact the ball was played but that was never an option). Definitely one to learn from for me.
 
Like many, if it's what you feel the game expects, then I'd have just pulled out the yellow and shown it to the one who (IMO) was the most likely to have been the miscreant. ;)

Whenever I'm dishing out a card to someone who is holding their hands out and looking incredulous, I always use the words "Okay Number (whatever), here's what I've seen" ... etc.

You can't go red unless you're 100% sure. :)
 
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