Runner Ref
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'Handball' around 5:20 mark. Really, really poor call. I think AR gets involved in it
WSL- Arsenal vs Chelsea
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Runner Ref
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Actually, take the AR comment back. Looks like AR runs up pitch as soon as goal goes in
This is where I don’t agree with the intervention from an AR when miles away with the Referee closer who didn’t see anything untoward, albeit not having the best angle. Though if it is sure that the AR didn’t provide any info then it took a while for the Referee to make her decision. I’ve seen MB live & overall I think she is a very good Referee. Because of this decision and others many want VAR, which in principle is fine, but where is the money going to come from and how would this work with all the teams in the WSL where some play at 2 different grounds - it could probably be done at those grounds who they share with the men’s teams, but perhaps not the smaller grounds. It needs to be all or nothing imo.
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It is a bad mistake, but I can see how she has come to the wrong conclusion in that she's seen the arms move back and incorrectly thought the ball hit one of them. The fact that not a single Chelsea player was appealing should be a helping hand here though, there's not a chance that would have happened had the ball actually hit her arm.
And for those who have said it’s was an abysmal decision is ott.
Runner Ref
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It is abysmal though. The referee is in a stadium that had over 50k people in, and they were the only one who believed they saw a handball. That had to equate to abysmal.
If it’s borderline, fair enough. I’ll take the disallowed Liverpool goal as borderline right/wrong. But this one is abysmal.
That happens though, and is why the men's game has VAR at the top level. Only needs the referee to blink at the wrong moment, or them to be sure they have seen something that actually didn't happen. I've certainly done that plenty of times, and part of the desire to have female referees on the female game will mean they are often relatively inexperienced.
We don't know for sure which of the officials thought it was a penalty, all they can do is take it on the chin and learn from it.
Runner Ref
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Eh, penalty?
Oops, handball, trying to do too many things at the same time. If they'd given a penalty that really would have been abysmal
Although I agree with this, this particular referee is on the FIFA list. Surely if you are an international referee you aren't that inexperienced? Or at the very least should be doing better? (Having said this, it is an honest mistake, and I know all of us will have made a decision as bad as, or worse than, this one before).
And she certainly seemed to delay her whistle plenty long enough to have noticed that lack of a reaction. A puzzling decision if there wasn't AR involvement.
Just goes to show that the genie's now out of the bottle and even though plenty think VAR's terrible for the game, people will just never accept mistakes any more.
Runner Ref
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Completely agree.
Whilst they’re fast tracking female officials, they hardly passed their courses 2 weeks ago. I’d like to think that someone who is in essence at the top if their profession can be classed as an expert rather than a novice.
The delayed whistle is so strange. I initially thought this was because they were speaking with the AR. But if you look at the footage, the AR runs up the pitch as though you would if it was a goal
Agreed. It was bizarre. There wasn't a single complaint from Chelsea. Surely you'd take the hint? I also thought she may be speaking with the AR but I don't think she is even looking in the same direction, and the AR clearly runs up the pitch as you say.
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MarcusSFARef
Youth Referee
It's a huge shame that an official registered on the FIFA list is getting a call of this magnitude wrong. I remember in 2021 she was operating solely as an Assistant (and on the FIFA list then!), so she must have progressed quickly to now be a WSL referee, on the FIFA list and officiating a London Derby of this magnitude. I have always thought she is one of the best in the league.
Completely agree that VAR is not appropriate in the WSL. The league simply does not have the resources nor finances.
The league doesn't even have GLT yet, and given so many teams play in NLS stadiums, there is a clear lack of resources to implement.
Here I think the Football Video Support would be ideal. So many of the WSL matches are broadcast with 3 or 4 cameras only, much unlike the Prem where they have over 20 cameras to choose from!
If they did introduce Video Support, it must be implemented equally and fairly imo. So, if matches were played at the Emirates or Etihad etc, then the same number of cameras must be used at London City x Bromley's Copperjax Stadium. - so say 5 were used for a LCL game, 5 cameras must be used for Video Support for the Arsenal game.
Completely agree that VAR is not appropriate in the WSL. The league simply does not have the resources nor finances.
The league doesn't even have GLT yet, and given so many teams play in NLS stadiums, there is a clear lack of resources to implement.
Here I think the Football Video Support would be ideal. So many of the WSL matches are broadcast with 3 or 4 cameras only, much unlike the Prem where they have over 20 cameras to choose from!
If they did introduce Video Support, it must be implemented equally and fairly imo. So, if matches were played at the Emirates or Etihad etc, then the same number of cameras must be used at London City x Bromley's Copperjax Stadium. - so say 5 were used for a LCL game, 5 cameras must be used for Video Support for the Arsenal game.
She is, but she's still relatively inexperienced, she was still an assistant referee as recently as 4 years ago. The point I guess I'm making is that referees in the WSL will have refereed a tiny fraction of games compared to referees in the EPL. Think I'm right in saying that Mel mainly referees in the National League on the male side, so it is taking a referee from step 5 and putting them in front of an almost full house at the Emirates for a televised game, it is a whole different level of pressure.
I'm not saying this is wrong by the way, it wouldn't be a good look having make referees officiating womens top level games. But with the move to play a much bigger percentage of games in the main stadiums, along with more and more being televised, it certainly ups the pressure on the referees and they aren't as acclimatised to it as their male SG1 colleagues are. So for all it is the right thing to be doing, the clubs will have to accept that there will be mistakes whilst the officials get more experienced in that environment. If they can't / won't accept that they will need to approach PGMO and ask that the likes of Oliver, Taylor, Kavanagh, etc, take charge of these games, but that obviously stunts the development of female officials.
Runner Ref
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Stop making excuses. This was a rather basic decision that they got wrong.