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OFFINABUS Red + IDFK in Box (Las Palmas v Mallorca)

FirsFox40

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Level 4 Referee
Cor blimey. Late VAR call for a defender giving an opponent 'the middle finger' - red card for the gesture, and IDFK awarded (scored).

Enjoy. (This won't embed, but click the link to watch. Starts at 2:10)

 
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Yikes. Not as bad as the infamous one in MLS where the FK was moved to the side of the GA instead of the tip with a wall extending from the post onto the field. But at least two players (and I think a third) are blatantly encroaching well before the kick. That shouldn’t be so hard to manage. (“You need to be 10 yards away or on the line. Back up. you don’t want to have to do this again if they don’t score.”)

Though it did raise a question for me that I’ve never thought about—what does on the line mean? Is one foot on the line enough or does the Boyd need to be above the line? Is that defined in guidance anywhere?
 
No way VAR needs to get involved here. Although it can be argued that it’s correct in law, it isn’t what anyone involved in the game of football expects. Totally unnecessary.
 
Yikes. Not as bad as the infamous one in MLS where the FK was moved to the side of the GA instead of the tip with a wall extending from the post onto the field. But at least two players (and I think a third) are blatantly encroaching well before the kick. That shouldn’t be so hard to manage. (“You need to be 10 yards away or on the line. Back up. you don’t want to have to do this again if they don’t score.”)

Though it did raise a question for me that I’ve never thought about—what does on the line mean? Is one foot on the line enough or does the Boyd need to be above the line? Is that defined in guidance anywhere?
Position of the feet. Pretty sure this is written in the guidance to match officials section
 
Two attacking players within a yard of the wall, although they wouldn't be if the wall was in the correct place
 
Not quite it's in the glossaryView attachment 7762
thanks @JamesL , I forgot that was in there.

So does “on their own goal line” require both feet, or is one foot enough? I feel like it should be both feet, by parallel to the fact that both feet must be out of the PA on a PK and be 10 yards back. But I noticed a couple of players with one foot on the line. (Which of course isn’t informative as the R did nothing about the player completely off the line 5 yards from the ball, too . . . )
 
No way VAR needs to get involved here. Although it can be argued that it’s correct in law, it isn’t what anyone involved in the game of football expects. Totally unnecessary.

Yeah, just imagine if that happened in the PL! There would be major uproar!

Having said that though, i do find it quite an amusing incident and if the law supports it then why shouldn't it be punished. At the end of the day, it's a product that is going out to audiences of all ages so a professional footballer giving the middle finger so clearly to an opponent is never a good look.

Also is there anyway of clarifying if the IDFK was in relation to the gesture because it was a Mallorca player who did the gesture so why would they be awarded with an IDFK like that. Going from the highlights, it's 3 minutes between the red card and the free kick being taken so there must of been a pass back in there aswell but not included in the highlights.
 
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There was a caution and a send off. I suspect the caution was for USB that triggered the OFFINABUS, so the restart is for the first offense.
 
It is extraordinary the referee getting involved in this. Then penalising the team who got given a yellow card presumably for AA, not the team with the red card. VAR called the referee over to penalise the Mallorca forward & ended up penalising Las Palmas!

Can't see what the Las Palmas defender did other than a celebratory wind up. Might give it on the halfway line but not in the six yard box.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxKlQ3Ex-Le0ayO1P5pytT5iNS5LQzQNh7?si=evIUwGP-AYPJ2Fxk
 
I don’t understand why it took him so long to look at it. It’s clear what the player did, so if you’re penalising him for it, it shouldn’t take that long.
 
thanks @JamesL , I forgot that was in there.

So does “on their own goal line” require both feet, or is one foot enough? I feel like it should be both feet, by parallel to the fact that both feet must be out of the PA on a PK and be 10 yards back. But I noticed a couple of players with one foot on the line. (Which of course isn’t informative as the R did nothing about the player completely off the line 5 yards from the ball, too . . . )
Both feet behind the line. At least we learn this in futsal in a few scenarios as there are a few extra distance markers on the field and *almost identical laws;)
 
Regardless of whether it is correct in law, this is absolutely not what VAR was brought in for and what a farcical series of events... I imagine the ref will be refereeing in the Spanish national league next week.
 
That looks correct, but I didn't think VAR could be used to punish a YC offence?
A VAR cannot recommend an on field review for a caution. But if the R does an o field review, the R can take the action he deems appropriate. So it is completely within VAR protocols to give the caution in addition to the send off.
I don’t understand why it took him so long to look at it. It’s clear what the player did, so if you’re penalising him for it, it shouldn’t take that long.
I expect that it was sorting out whether to caution as well. And perhaps if there is a way out of the red once called to the monitor.

It is extraordinary the referee getting involved in this. Then penalising the team who got given a yellow card presumably for AA, not the team with the red card. VAR called the referee over to penalise the Mallorca forward & ended up penalising Las Palmas!

Can't see what the Las Palmas defender did other than a celebratory wind up. Might give it on the halfway line but not in the six yard box.

It is a bit of an odd scenario. It is pretty typical to caution the instigator when sending off the opponent for the reaction. Normally that is some degree of justice. Here it does seem a bit skewed i. Result. I think that goes back to why it took so long—the R can’t be happy about the decision he is boxed into making. This is one where it would be very interesting to hear the full conversation between the VAR and the R, and to hear the powers that be opine on how it was handled. I would expect that the VARs had been told (and teams had been told the VARS had been told) that they should recommend a review when they see an over obscene gesture.
 
Cor blimey. Late VAR call for a defender giving an opponent 'the middle finger' - red card for the gesture, and IDFK awarded (scored).

Enjoy. (This won't embed, but click the link to watch. Starts at 2:10)

Looking at the vid I am puzzled and this explanation adds to it.

I see the attacker giving the bird and red carded for it not the defender.

And how on earth is there conclusive evidence from that vid that the defender committed an offence (if any) before the attacker. Without use of VAR I would have accepted it, call it game management. But with VAR it has to be evidence based and conclusive.
 
And how on earth is there conclusive evidence from that vid that the defender committed an offence (if any) before the attacker. Without use of VAR I would have accepted it, call it game management. But with VAR it has to be evidence based and conclusive.
I really waffled on this. The defender does turn and yell in the face of the attacker. If this were at midfield, I think we would all consider the caution an easy call, to not let the instigator off free for successfully sparking the attacker into a send off offense. On one hand, in your own GA ifyou can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. On the other, especially through VAR, it seems an injustice that punishing the send off creates an advantage for the other team. I think some of it comes down to the challenges of having VAR with specific scope that can lead to quirky results.
 
If you heard a player at this level SAY "F*** You" to another player, would you red card them?
How loud and how said? The problem here is that the action is visible to the stands. I strongly suspect that VARs and teams have been told this is what would happen for obscene gestures.
 
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