Time to pack his bags?

With the results of the USA v. SVN behind us, there is a burning question in my head. Are we going to see Coulibaly controlling a match again in this World Cup?

I'm not going to answer it though, or even hint at an opinion. Some of you may cry "FOUL" to this, but as I said before, I am not there, have never been in that particular spot, and did not see what he saw, or did not see. I can not in good conscious second guess a referee that was meters from the play.

Lets let history be our guide. Does anyone know a guy names Esse Baharmast? Does anyone recall what occurred in the 1998 World Cup match he presided over? Well since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is one that some may recall.

You see, a referee can go from villain to hero in a short time. For those interested, the full story is here.

So just to reiterate, I am emphatically not sharing an opinion about the decision in the 86' which pulled a USA goal out of the net. I am however going to talk about how at times assessments can be uncomfortable things. I will opine that this assessment will be uncomfortable for the entire refereeing team.

So there you are, had a big match of some type, and you are being assessed. During the match there was some type of controversy that maybe only you saw, or maybe everyone EXCEPT you saw. The match ends and you and your assistants go to the locker room among shouting fans and players.

You know an assessor is coming ... it was a tough match ... you don't want to get criticized about it. What do you do?

1. Be calm. Assessors (believe it or not) are there to help, not to berate you. Engage in a dialog to understand where the assessor is coming from, and where you as referee, are coming from.

2. Be honest. If you blew it, say you blew it. If you did't, say you didn't. If you don't know, say you don't know. Nothing will get you into hotter water faster than saying something that is obviously not true to an assessor. Some may buy the BS ... the best will know better.

3. Ask - What would you have done? You might just get a blank look indicating they have no idea. Other braver assessors may say they don't know. The best will have a thought for you to ponder, as a single correct solution rarely presents itself in this game.

4. Say - Thank you. Assessors, as I said before are there to help, not just hang around. You can disagree with the assessment, think they got it all wrong in all aspects, and that they were a blind, clueless, ex-referee trying to relive their career through you. That might be true, every word ... but they took the time to try and help. Appreciate that fact if nothing else.

5. Think about it. There are times when a point in an assessment will not make sense until much later in life. Review those older assessment and rethink about that situation and how you would solve it the next time. It may just happen again.

6. Be your worst assessor. I became an assessor at a young age to try to think like an assessor and understand what they were after. I would perform my own self-assessment and try to come up with the questions they would ask. Sometimes I got it right, sometimes I got it wrong, but in all cases I was thinking about the match, and how I could make my performance better next time.

Remember, learning about this game is an evolution, not a destination. Nothing impresses this assessor more than honest introspection and a desire to get better next time out regardless of the previous result. I suspect this is the same for most assessors out there today.

I've heard of players acting ... but fans?

North Korean Soccer Fans Are Actually Chinese "Volunteers"

North Korea's World Cup debut elicited touching stories about the ragtag group of soccer fans "hand-picked" by the Communist regime to support their squad in South Africa. Turns out they were hand-picked for their skill at not being Korean. ...

Please see the full story here at deadspin.com. 

Soccer comes to Roundball

The NBA Finals are over, and sadly, the good guys lost. This one was decided before the game even began, when Kendrick Perkins went down in game 6 with a season-ending knee injury. But beyond that, the referees had a large say in how this whole series was played. Right from the opening tip in Game 1, the officiating was as much a part of the story as was the play. I cannot recall a basketball series where refereeing took center stage like that.

One local Boston sports radio show even had regular updates and analysis about the refereeing, as provided by former NBA ref and gambler-turned-prison bride Tim Donaghy. While I will refrain from making any personal judgments about the low-life piece of dirt that jeopardized the integrity of officials in all sports, the mere fact that a referee is making daily analysis about other referees during the morning drive time is significant. Clearly something is going on, and refereeing is the story.

Which reminds me of another sport I like. Soccer refereeing has always been subject to scrutiny, and we are used to being the center of attention. Soccer referees seem to have a greater influence on the pace and tempo of the game than do officials in other sports, at least in the minds of the coaches and spectators. I almost feel sorry for some people who apparently go to the park just to spend two hours screaming at the referees. They are missing a good game!

So how long will it be before the World Cup brings in a referee for occasional analysis, instead of an endless parade of former players? I certainly like the thoughtful contributions of Jurgen Klinnsman, John Harkes and the rest of lot, but they clearly know next to nothing about what is in the referees' minds and can offer little about why something happens, other their own [player's] opinion about the validity of the call.

Certainly by now there are enough soccer referees who are out of work due to circumstances beyond their control, that would make very good analysts for a major event like the World Cup. They could be in-studio and only consulted when needed, such as in the 33rd minute of the Greece V Nigeria match yesterday when Kaita was given a straight red card. That decision changed the fortunes of the team and the entire group. What was going through the referee's mind at that critical moment? ESPN viewers will never know.

I wonder what Lu Jun is doing these days, and how is his English?

Who is JAFO?

As many of you have seen, there is a contributor listed named JAFO. A couple of readers have asked who that is. JAFO is someone who occasionally may contribute to the posts but wishes to remain anonymous. 

Again speaking from my legal training, the right to speak anonymously has been upheld again and again by the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS). One example for those who want to fall asleep is Talley v. California 362 U.S. 60 (1960) which stands for the proposition that "... identification and fear of reprisal might deter perfectly peaceful discussions of public matters of importance."

I believe we can operate within this fora in this manner without undermining its effectiveness. I am more willing to hide the identity of some contributors who do so in good faith and for legitimate reasons that not have these folks contribute at all, as their posts are valuable and provide a perspective I can not.

A historical example is Benjamin Franklin, his pseudonym Silence Dogood was a staple in James Franklin's paper the New England Courant. This middle aged widow character looked at the world through a particularly "cracked" lens and allowed Ben to protect himself from any public scrutiny that may result. Same here at Kicking-Back.

The name JAFO is actually an acronym.  If you really want to know what JAFO stands for, check out the 80's film called Blue Thunder.

Now one person who is not masking their identity is me, your humble host. I believe it is critical to have one "face" to show that we mean business and stand behind what is written here. As I have offered before, and I do so again now, if there are ideas for future entries, or a topic you want to spin up, please feel free to contact me here, or post directly to the blog entries, and we can make that happen.

Assume the position

I have been impressed with the quality and fitness of the referees in the World Cup through the first 16 matches.  I may not be able to say the same for last night's referee in the Spain v Switzerland match.  English Referee Howard Webb was constantly in the way of the play, unless of course he was nowhere near it.So how does a casual (or even astute) observer tell when watching on TV that the referee positioning is sub-par?   It is easy.  Here are some tell-tale signs of bad positioning, all of which occurred in that game:

• When the player with the ball can reach out and touch the referee, or has to dribble around him.
• When the ball hits the referee, or the referee has to take quick action to jump over the ball or duck to avoid getting hit.
• When there is a long counter attack and the referee is not even in the TV picture because he is struggling to keep up.
• When the referee is positioned between the ball carrier and one of his teammates.
  

That last one may be a little harder to observe, but if you just take ten minutes and look for it you will see a pattern emerge.  Look for this to happen in the middle third of the field.  Does the player with the ball have options to pass to both flanks, or is the referee taking one of those options away?  A smart referee will adjust his position to make sure there is a defender in between himself and the ball carrier.  Webb didn't, and it took away Spain's crisp passing ability, which is one of Spain's best weapons.

USA's Round 2. Who's Making the Calls?

FIFA announced the referees for USA's 2nd match the other day. 
Here they are:



Referee
COULIBALY Koman (MLI)

Assistant Referee 1
ACHIK Redouane (MAR)

Assistant Referee 2
CANDIDO Inacio (ANG)

Fourth Official
MOHD SALLEH Subkhiddin (MAS)

Reserve Assistant Referee
GEK PHENG Jeffrey (SIN)


So we have a Malian referee, assistants from Morocco and Angola, the 4th official from Malaysia, and a Singaporean Reserve Assistant Referee.


Here is a very real question ... What language are they going to speak to each other with?


Here is a follow up to ponder ... Does it matter? Forget fancy headsets, what about eye contact?


COULIBALY'S "official" stats from FIFA are here, and a brief dossier from Wikipedia is here. He is the most experienced of all Malian referees (source).


So, let's look at that experience.


He has apparently worked the USA v. Tajikstan match in the 2007 U-17 World Cup (source), Colombia vs Turkey quarterfinal,and the Colombia v. Spain 3rd place match.


On 31-JAN-2010 he was the referee for the African Cup of Nations where Egypt beat Ghana 1 - 0. See the match report here.


Arguably this is not a complete picture, and there seem to be a bunch of holes that would need to be filled for a complete analysis. It does suffice to say however that the sparseness of the record is a point of note. A referee with a paper trail is far more of a known and may put some folks at ease to see what they are in for, good or bad.


One does not have to be experienced at a particular level to do well in all cases at that level necessarily, and I look forward to a good performance from COULIBALY.


I am sure both teams are as well.

FIFA Detains Women in Orange Dresses

You just can't make this stuff up ...

At last, a human rights cause to draw even the most rugby-obsessed Afrikaner into the World Cup: some Dutch-effect women have been detained for wearing orange dresses at Soccer City. Details of this rapidly developing international incident remain contested, with the oppressors (the young ladies) telling a slightly different tale to that being spun by the victim (Fifa). The fallout has seen ITV pundit Robbie Earle fired, and at this rate Prince Harry may well be implicated by dawn … but here are the facts, such as they can be established. ...


Full story here, courtesy of www.guardian.co.uk.

Even Sepp's Doing It ...

FIFA Pres. Joseph S. Blatter launches Twitter page.

Full Story here.

And for those who want to follow him on Twitter, go here.

That's netting to joke about

Earlier we spoke about the critical need to inspect the ball, not only before the match but also during any change of a ball as required by the Laws of the Game [LOTG] (see pages 13, 21, and 77). Doing this small thing can save a match from going into disrepute.

Today, a quick comment regarding pre-game inspections and goal safety. While some areas of inspection are less critical than others, one that requires early scrutiny is the condition of the goals used during a match. Particularly, if these goals are properly anchored down. Here too this is a requirement of the LOTG (see pages 9 and 77).

This one is not about a game going into disrepute, this very simply is to save lives.

Don't believe me, look here for a blog entry from Mary Ellias of Virginia detailing the death of her 10 year old son Hayden tragically killed by a goal that fell on him. This post states in part , "What I remember seeing was our son lying face down lifeless on the ground".

A series of law suits were filed, and one of the named defendants was USSF. You can bet your badge that whoever was refereeing that match was asked some very upsetting questions.

That discomfort however is meaningless in comparison to the tragic loss of a young boy and the pain to his family and friends.

Next time your out refereeing, take an extra second, just one, to make sure the goals are anchored and appear safe. If they do not, my opinion is not to start that match until they are, or abandon it, if they can not be made so.

Check a goal - Save a life.

FIFA's got bugs???

For the soccer geek and just plain geek ...


Malware Watch: Adobe zero day attack, malicious FIFA-themed spam, exploit serving Virus Alerts

Researchers from WebSense are reporting on three currently active malware campaigns, attempting to trick end users into opening malicious HTML files, or automatically exploiting vulnerable PCs relying on the recent Adobe zero day flaw (CVE-2010-1297). ...

Full story continues courtesy of ZDnet.com.

1 + 1 == 10

It can take great courage from a referee to send a player off. It can take even greater courage from a referee to give a player a second caution which results in a send off.

On 13-JUN in the ALG v SVN (report) and SRB v GHA (report) match we saw send offs for second cautions. I am not here to critique the decisions ... the referees are there, I am not. To get the larger refereeing community thinking however, I offer the following.

Lets recall first where this comes from in the LOTG. See page 35 in Law 12 which states that:
"A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences: ...
... receiving a second caution in the same match."

So, reflecting on the recent post about cautions, and my comment about getting something back in return, lets extend the thinking in this context as to why this is critical.

Look at the results from the two matches, the cautions, and second cautions. Both second cautions were for "run of the mill" cautionable stuff, not anything "over the top" (theatrically speaking). This makes me reflect on why and how the initial caution was given to each player, and while I will not go into great detail here about it, there is a relevant general point.

Make sure a player "earns" their cautions. In the two cases here, both of the first cautions were for fouls, both the second cautions were for handling the ball inside the penalty area. Once by an attacking player, once by a defending player.

These were earned cautions in all (4) cases. Imagine if one of the cautions was trivial or "ticky-tack" in nature. The level of dissent, which was none in this case, would have been much more pronounced.

Think about a local match when a player is having a bad match and says something in frustration ... maybe even something that could be worth a caution. How about kicks the ball away in frustration. Should it be a caution? Well ... maybe ...

Let's say you book them, and later in the match, they do something really dumb that mandates a caution, like not retiring the distance on a free kick ... red card? The LOTG say yes, but does that do the player, the game, or you as referee any justice? Again my answer is maybe ...

If a player has earned the cautions, no matter how dumb they may have acted, you are required by the LOTG to act. If a player puts themselves in that position, they have earned what was coming to them. Look at GHEZZAL today for ALG. A shirt pull to bring a player down right when he came in as a substitute, and later trying to control a ball with his arm when attacking in the penalty area. No doubt, no question, one, two, done.

There are times when it will not be so easy and the player does a couple of things that mandate a caution. Those are the breaks. As a referee you can not excuse behavior that mandates a caution in the LOTG, but you should work with players to let them know when they are treading on thin ice regarding discretionary ones.

Send off those players who have earned the shame of going home early. Do so however based in their own behavior. Don't be forced into sending a player off by not thinking through what each misconduct really means to the game.

Justice for those who love the game ... even in the face of adversity ...

Players vote Joyce top umpire in baseball

By Tom Singer / MLB.com

06/13/10 7:16 PM ET

In a recent poll conducted by ESPN The Magazine, Major League Baseball players voted Jim Joyce the best big league umpire. ...

Full story here courtesy of MLB.com.

Even POTUS was watching ENG v USA ...

... or is this a great Photoshop?


Take a look at the reflection on the conference room table ...


I know I was smiling with the draw. Maybe POTUS was too.

Photo Credit: Studio 90

Simon Says ...

... get something back.


So what do I mean by that?


I mean if you give a caution to a player, you better get something back for it.


Simon did ... lets see how.


Take a look at the official match report, you can get it here. There are a couple of things that stand out. First, there were what I would call an "average" number of fouls for the matches played so far. We will see in the month ahead if that stays true to form. Second, we saw with (6) cautions what is an "above average" number of cautions thus far ... in fact this now places FRA, ENG, and USA in a tie for 1st for cautions. Were so many needed? Lets review what they were. 


In the 26', MILNER was booked for Persistent Infringement. Did anyone catch the referee holding up two fingers when he was booked? He was letting everyone know this was his second foul, and as it turned out, his last of the match.


By the way, did anyone catch who he fouled? It was CHERUNDOLO. Hang on a sec, that's important.


In the 39', CHERUNDOLO was cautioned. Sound familiar? He committed that one foul and that was it.


So, Simon says stop with a caution to (2) players, and neither commits another foul in the match. I would say he got something for those.


In the 47', DEMERIT knocked down a ball with his hand and got exactly what he deserved, a caution. That as cautions go, was an easy one. But note, if Simon does not give that one, his World Cup experience I predict would have ended early.


In the 60', CARRAGHER landed a nasty over the ball tackle on FINDLEY. While the caution was warranted, I was wondering if Simon was thinking red given the challenge. Remember who was fouled here too.


In the 61', GERRARD goes over the ball onto the knee of DEMPSEY (the goal scorer).


By the way, after these cautions, neither player committed another foul the entire match (keep in mind they still had 30' to go plus stoppage time). Not bad ... certainly got something there.


Even Harkesy when calling the match on ABC was saying after the GERRARD foul, that it changes the mindset of the defender after a caution ... the part he did not say was if the caution was the right decision, and was delivered with effect.


Finally, in the 74', FINDLEY (the recipient in the 60') finds GERRARD with a tough tackle, and yes, that too was his last foul called of the match, but I am sure wanted it to count on a guy that just really tackled one of his own.

So in looking over the cautions that Simon gave, he got something back for each and every one of them. He either got (a) that player to stop, (b) set an example for OTHER players to stop, (c) did not allow retaliation to go unpunished so there would not be more, and (d) protected the integrity of the game from silly stuff.

So, the next time you are ready to raise a caution in the air for all to see, stop and think ...

What are you going to get out of it that will help your game that day?

If the answer is nothing, don't even take it out of your pocket, it would be meaningless.

Do you know this man?

Match: ENG v. USA

If you don't, you should. His name is Carlos Simon, hails from Brazil and will be the referee for the ENG v. USA match.

Here is the whole story about the match:

Match Date: 12-JUN-2010
Match #: 5
Venue City: RUSTENBURG (RSA)
Group: C



Referee: SIMON Carlos (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: HAUSMANN Altemir (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: BRAATZ Roberto (BRA)
Fourth Official: MAILLET Eddy (SEY)
Reserve Assistant Referee: MENKOUANDE Evarist (CMR)

His "official" stats can be found here from FIFA.

What else do we know?
Well, this is Mr. Simon's 3rd FIFA World Cup, which by any standard is pretty amazing. He apparently is currently a journalist (some report formally), and a former trade union worker.

He has come under recent fire in Brazil for a local match between Vasco and Botafogo where, as record has it, both coaches went to the Brazilian authorities regarding his performance with the denial of an injury time penalty to one team. Also, from the last World Cup, he was sharply criticized regarding a end off of Teddy Lucic from Sweden in their second round match against Germany.

While no referee is without controversy, this man is considered one of the most seasoned Brazil has to offer, and will be a treat to watch him as he begins what is certain to be his last FIFA World Cup.

The Living Daylights

For those who have not seen the opening match of the 2010 World Cup featuring South Africa and Mexico, we were treated to a good match in all aspects, in particular was the refereeing. Irmatov, did an excellent job of ushering in the World Cup at an elevated, yet controlled pace.

One incident of note that I wanted to highlight was that at the 37:08' mark, where the Senior Assistant referee,  RAFAEL ILYASOV, made a brilliant offside call. A still of the video is below, and while hard to see, here is the gist.

The still is at the moment that the ball was flicked on by a Mexican player on the 6 yard box. It was flicked to the Mexican player inside the 6 yard box (the only one).

ESPN has a neat video technology that shades from the 2nd the last defender (remember the one that is where  we judge offside from) to the goal ... think of it as the "offside zone". Below we can see the RSA goalkeeper (wearing red) and the shaded area back to the goal, that is the "offside zone", and there is a Mexican player standing right inside of it.

It was really close though (in real time) as the amount of time for the ball to travel about 3 yards at about 40MPH is quick. Couple that with the RSA player going one way, and the MEX player going the other ... and bing, bing, we were pulling the ball out of the back of the net.

There are a couple of ways to go with this one from here (at least). One angle for later is similar to the Joyce post from before ... when should this one stand as a goal, even if offside? World Cup? Opening match? FIFA wants goals ... right?

As I teased before, I will answer this one later ... I am ducking again.

Now is the time to ask, when is even - even? Or how does one judge when a player is even with another and preclude an offside decision?

One way to think about it is if the two players are, when looking across the field, overlapping each other substantially when the ball is played. One question that is often asked, is if there is "daylight" between them, or specifically their torsos.

Simple question, impossible circumstances. This can be hard to do with everything going fast, or if you are asked to do this across the width of the field, which in this case is around 75 yards (look at the marks on the field in the still).

If you look above, or saw the match, you can see there is a bunch of "daylight" between the RSA keeper, and MEX forward that puts the ball in the net. Like I said, it was close, and moving at 100 miles an hour made it that much harder. ILYASOV got it right though, 100% in my opinion.

So when that is you running a line, and there is "daylight" between the 2nd to last defender and the attacker, with the attacker ahead of the 2nd to last defender, raise the flag if they are gaining an advantage from that position as they are offside.

It bears noting that the "experts" calling the match for ESPN got it dead wrong and really dug themselves a pretty good hole about it. It still boggles my mind that folks involved in the game at such a high level genuinely have no clue understanding one of the laws of the game that has such critical bearing on the result.

For those looking for the official match report, it can be downloaded from FIFA here.

Got your game on?

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup upon us (schedule can be found here) there are some neat media items floating around that some geeks and fans of the game alike might find interesting in keeping up to date.

This is particularly important to me as (a) I was just informed that I have to take the kids exactly during the same time that the USA's 1st match is on, and (b) I will be traveling a bit and need to be up to date about what is going on, to in part, report it here.

Some examples of good sources, to follow the World Cup on Twitter are at http://twitter.com/FIFAWorldCupTM or check out #WC2010, or #MNT for all the action!

Each of these others (and more) can be found on iTunes.

First, is the official soundtrack for the FIFA 2010 World Cup, Listen Up! Some seem to love it, some seem to hate it. Please don't shoot the messenger.

Second, is a free iPhone app from ESPN that has news and match tracking for ongoing (and possibly) played matches. There may be one for the iPad too for those who have one.

Finally, there is a free podcast from ESPN reporting on news and match events from the World Cup. Content so far is good and if you have a drive to work (like me) may be worth a listen or two, especially on match days.







How about some links? We got 'em. Check these out:
SOURCE: When Saturday Comes

World Cup College Clever lads, these. Not only do they preview the games thoughtfully, they approach football from impossible but entertaining angles too, for example looking at why Zeno's paradox means that John Terry's lack of speed won't be an issue. Sample quote: "Because we are cognitively predisposed to relate our personal circumstances to external events and occurrences, we have little difficulty developing an affinity with a group of people (that we've never met) representing us, via shared nationality, in a sporting tournament." That's why you blindly love England.

FIFA official site It may sound obvious, but FIFA's official site is, as official ones go, the full ten yards better than any of its sister sites. There are few better places for historical stats, or up-to-date news on less-covered countries like Honduras and Paraguay. Even its features bravely attempt a slightly more original angle than the mainstream media, although the prose is in that clunky territory you might generously say is aimed at a global audience. And don't expect any probing investigations of corporate backhanders. Sample quote: "This year the prize for the most original motivational approach surely goes to Japan, who rounded off their build-up in Switzerland with a visit from members of Japanese boy band Exile. During the event, Takeshi Okada's men were presented with a banner and some origami cranes in the team's colours." It will be the origami cranes wot win it.

AllAfrica.com There are, apparently, environmentally friendly vuvuzelas made out of South African seaweed – that's the kind of priceless fact you can pick up at this site devoted to the tournament's six African participants. The ugly design is ten years out of date, but again this is a good location for non-mainstream news and features in what sometimes reads like quasi-poetic, dictionary English. Sample quote: "Already the exclusion [from Nigeria's squad] of Victor Anichebe and Ikechukwu Uche is causing ripples, while that of the former has taken an international dimension with his club, Everton Football Club of England, knocking Nigeria for misinforming the world about the player's physical condition." Although the world may have just missed that story in the light of the BP oil catastrophe, the perpetually jittery financial markets and Israel's attack on the Turkish aid ship heading for Gaza.

Got more? Send them along and we'll post them here.

History Repeating Itself?

So on my way to work this morning bombing down I-95 in Providence, I saw this sign. The little one on the left (sorry about the rainy shot).

Now I am a fan of sport (in general) and can understand the inclusion of 1950 and obviously 2010 on the banner ... but 1776?

Is Saturday a prelude to war?

One person that may be thinking so is Carlos Simon, the referee. One way he might handle it is through the use of misconducts. Look at the following AP article for some thought on what we may see ...

Card shark: Ref for England-US loves yellow
Source: AP

We may need this ...

In poking around the FIFA site I ran across the "Official Documents" Section. It can be found here.

All the documents looked interesting, two of which caught my eye right away and figured I would share.


First, is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Fan Guide (download here).

The second is the FIFA Disciplinary Code (download here).

I have to believe we will get good use out of both in the month ahead.

US Soccer Referee Directive: Dissent (Viewer Warning - Explicit Language)

Hey Rooney, F*%@ you too! This may have been the thought of the referee the other night when England played a friendly against Platinum Stars and was mercilessly berated for his efforts.

Recently guardian.co.uk reported on an incident of a foul mouthed Wayne Rooney during a "friendly" in South Africa that have lead some to paint him as a target to get sent off by inciting him to eruptive dissent. From the cited story, "The USA, England's first opponents on Saturday, have already suggested they might play on Rooney's perceived fragile temperament with this an indication that the player can be on edge. "Rooney insulted me," said Selogilwe. "He said: 'Fuck you.' He is a good player when you see him on the television, but when you see him on the pitch he just keeps on insulting the referee."

So lets get local about this ... what do you do when you are faced with dissent?

Remember we were talking about all these neat memorandum and position papers being online for the world to see at US Soccer. Well, here (.pdf download) is the one for dissent. It is a good read in spots, in particular it goes into the three reasons why dissent must be managed. From the memo:

• Erodes the authority of the referee;
• Reduces the enjoyment of other participants and spectators; and
• Can spread if left unchecked.

Further it goes into what three elements can be considered when determining an action for dissent. Again from the memo:

• Public

• Personal

• Provocative

Now, while the LOTG require a caution when dissent occurs, there is a subjective element when one referee feels that threshold has been breached. It can change under the circumstances, even in the same match.

Lets take some examples to illustrate these points.

In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a player misses a shot in a one goal game and immediately after shouts "Oh (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

Dissent? Lets think ...

Does it erode authority of the referee or match control? Probably not.

Does it affect the enjoyment of the match for all? Probably not.

Can it spread? Probably not.

Was it public? You bet - everyone heard it.

Was it personal? No.

Was it provocative such that others will be incited by the matter? Doubt it.

Is it dissent and therefore deserves a caution? I don't think so. Just some frustration. I would probably respond by publicly jogging over and having a quiet word, maybe not even about the explicative, just to show some presence and acknowledge publicly that I will deal with it.

How about this one. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, that (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

Ask yourself the same questions as above, what did you get?

How about now. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, YOU (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

How about this. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, YOU (insert one minute trade without and foul language here)".

Same answer? I don't think so. I may be able to excuse the first as frustration, but the second is getting personal, and if done openly, loudly, and publicly, for me likely gets a caution. The third gets a caution. If a player can not calm himself down after a short period of time, he needs help to do so.

Last one. In a Saturday match somewhere in Podunk USA, a foul occurs and immediately after shouts "Oh ref, YOU'RE MOM (or other relative) (insert favorite one or two word explicative here)".

Here, they are done, send them home for foul and abusive language. Something so personal regardless of loud, soft, public, or not must be dealt with. To not do so invites big trouble. Get rid of that player or coach, the game does not need them, and neither do you.

There are lots of ways to dealt with these issues before they even become issues, and the position paper lists these well and we will deal with these later as well. Here is one now. Do some homework. Case in point:

Look at what the USA is planning, to make Rooney pop. Get him under a caution and you neutralize him for part of the match. Send him off and get a huge advantage.

Do you think Mr. Simon is thinking about this leading up to his match on Saturday?

Bet on it.

We'll watch together how he deals with it.