Safety First

My last blog post was about reffing for the next ref, in which I discussed that letting things go in your game may affect what the next referee has to deal with in his game.  This week I want to remind referees the main reason they are on the field: player safety.

These two topics go hand in hand.  If you let players get away with hard, dangerous challenges they will only do it more, whether later in your game or in the next game.  At the youth level we not only referee but in a sense we are teaching the kids how the game is to be played.  Our decisions have consequences, both in the game we're doing and in the game the kids play in the future.

The match that brought player safety to my attention was Manchester United vs. Liverpool.  Liverpool are up 2-0 in the first half at home.  Around the 40th minute, just a few before halftime, Jamie Carragher comes in high and hard, studs up, and violently clashes into Nani.  No attempt was made for the ball even though the ball would have been easier to get than Nani.  Phil Dowd, the referee, immediately called the foul and pulled the yellow card.  Meanwhile, Nani gets up, sprints over to Dowd, and then collapses again.  Whether or not this was a bit of theater I don't know, but I have seen the pictures of the injury and it does look quite nasty.  A deep gouge, blood running down the leg and apparently Nani is out for 3-4 weeks.

A yellow has been given, Nani is stretchered off, everything should simmer down now, especially with halftime only a few minutes away, right?  Wrong.  Almost the very next play Maxi catches Rafael on the thigh with his studs (although clearly playing the ball unlike Carragher) and Rafael ends up two-footing Lucas high and late.  Rafael and Skrtel end up with yellows for their efforts, although Rafael certainly deserved a sending off.

At this point you have to ask if there was anything Dowd could have done to at least prevent the second harsh challenge.  In my opinion Dowd is a quality referee.  There have been several instances in the last few weeks where he has gotten very tough decisions spot on.  But the Carragher decision was not right.  I'm not going to say it was "wrong", he was close to the play and immediately jumped in knowing what he was going to do, however, that kind of tackle is not needed in this game. 

The only saving grace for Dowd was that halftime was right around the corner, everyone had 15 minutes to cool off.  And, at this point both teams think they dodged a bullet in that each team should have had a man sent off.  But let me ask you this, what happens if this all happens in the 60th minute?  What does Dowd do when he has another half hour to play and tempers running high?

We cannot simply hope to get away with this in our games.  Young players are impressionable and if we let them think this kind of football is ok then we do them, the players they will injure, and the game a disservice.  We need to referee in a way that protects the talented footballers and punishes those who think the name of the game is to intimidate or injure the opponents.  Player safety is our number one priority.

Handball or ballhand

Recently in the Manchester United vs. Arsenal match there was a penalty kick given for handball.  I saw this live on Monday afternoon (the 13th) and thought it harsh then.  I was able to find a video of the game, unfortunately not one of just the incident, and it is located here: http://www.footytube.com/video/manchester-united-arsenal-dec13-67803.

At 12:30 in the video Howard Webb has played a wonderful advantage.  Park had been cut down but the ball bounced right into the path of Anderson, who plays it to Nani.  Nani takes on Clichy and beats him to the end line, only for Clichy to slip on the wet turf and fall.  As Clichy is falling the ball is played by Nani but goes directly into the extended arm of Clichy.

Here is where we must decipher what Clichy is trying to do.  According to the laws of the game a handball must be deliberate.  The guidelines from USSF say deliberate is intentionally handling the ball, i.e. slapping the ball, or making oneself bigger.  From what I can see here Clichy does neither.  His arm is extended not to make himself bigger but to balance himself in an effort to stand back up and defend, something that ANY player would do, meaning it is a normal playing position.  He clearly did not intentionally handle the ball as he made no clear attempt to touch the ball with his hand.

The AR called the penalty, not the referee.  Immediately after being recognized by Webb the AR motions his arm indicating to Webb, the center, that Clichy deliberately moved his arm to handle the ball.  From the replay this is flat out wrong.

I don't want to just throw the AR under the bus as I realize this game is a very high level and is moving extremely fast, but to make that call in the box is harsh.  This call could have completely changed the game, putting Man United up 2-0 and really putting the game out of reach.  We as referees must be able to slow the game down in our minds and instantaneously replay the events that just occurred.  In this case, we need to immediately be asking ourselves whether the hand played the ball or the ball played the hand.  Clearly the ball was played into the hand, which was in a normal position.  Therefore, there is no penalty for me.

One last point about this situation.  Howard Webb does well to protect his AR after the call has been made.  I always tell my ARs that I will sell there calls, unless I see something 100% different.  If I'm Webb and I give the penalty I will also protect my ARs and Webb does that well here.  Nasri and Clichy, particularly Nasri, are moving towards the AR and screaming at him.  Webb comes in, gets in between the players and the AR and moves them back, even giving Nasri a caution.  Excellent teamwork here.