Olympiakos manager Zico suggested there was a French refereeing conspiracy in his team’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday, complaining there shouldn’t have been a second goal. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is French and many of his players are from the country. The four match officials – referee Stephane Lannoy, assistants Eric Dansault and Laurent Ugo and fourth official Antony Gautier – are all from France.
FIFA says the United States’ World Cup qualifier against Honduras will take place in San Pedro Sula next month despite turmoil in the Central American country. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said Tuesday following an executive committee meeting that the crisis in Honduras following the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28 hasn’t caused safety concerns that jeopardize the match.
A rough soccer match that led to name-calling — including taunts of “little man” and disparaging remarks about one player’s turban — eventually resulted in the beating of a soccer dad who suffered five facial fractures and a broken nasal passage, an Edmonton court heard Tuesday.
This past week saw several referees step up to the pressure and correctly address the challenges presented. On the other hand, several referees failed to grasp the moment and, as a consequence, decisions did not pass the litmus test as they potentially impacted the outcome of various games.
September 17th marked the launch of the Additional Assistant Referee (AAR) in professional soccer.
Teams returned to the field rested and tested referees and assistant referees for 90 minutes in each game. There were many critical decisions that referees were required to address including two instances of denying obvious goal scoring opportunities as well as a couple of last minute penalty kick decisions.
Despite only three games and a low average foul count per game (18.33), there were 10 cautions issued and four red cards handed out. Overall, two of the four red cards did not fit the criteria established by U.S. Soccer for red card tackles or denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
Referees used personality and presence to manage and control games this past week – a positive sign as both attributes act as a deterrent and are proactive tools that should be used to prevent future negative actions by players and coaches.