Being the numbers guy I am ...

Here is an interesting article from FIFA that details the 2010 World Cup "by the numbers".

Full article here, courtesy of FIFA.

Holy Orange Batmam

No comment from me, but worth reading here, courtesy of ESPN.

Thank You Readers!

Number of days: 30
Number of hits: A few thousand

Being able to get some good conversation going around the world from FIFA referees to the in town volunteer linesman: Priceless.

Thanks to all of you for making that possible!

PAUL HOFFMAN: Beneath the glow of Fifa’s untaxed empire

THE general euphoria and feelings of thankfulness following the 2010 World Cup have seemingly precluded anyone from now assessing Fifa’s role in the tournament. Gratitude for cracking the nod from Fifa to host it should not blind the South African public to the less attractive features of the World Cup — those for which Fifa is responsible.

On the field, these manifested themselves in palpable unfairness in the decision making for which Fifa’s match officials are responsible. Fifa claims they got it right 96% of the time. The problem is that when they got it wrong, they did so spectacularly. As a consequence of refereeing errors, it can be argued that England bowed out early and Mexico lost a match it could have drawn. Fifa president Sepp Blatter apologised, but whether corrective action is taken remains to be seen.

Had Fifa put in place a simple review system using modern technology, a far fairer outcome was easily achievable. There has been a chorus of criticism of the antiquated way in which the process of adjudication of the matches is still carried out 10 years into the 21st century. If Fifa does not take steps to improve this situation soon, one can expect to hear cynics claim there are murkily suspicious reasons for keeping the current system of refereeing in place.

It is, however, off the field that Fifa’s role is open to even more criticism. The process by which Fifa selects the country in which the tournament is held every four years is both opaque and unaccountable.

Full article continues here at Business Day.

Refeerees Get an "A" in World Cup 2010

Referees were right 96 percent of the time at the World Cup, according to a study by FIFA's referees' committee.

The study looked at key decisions such as free kicks, penalties and goal decisions but did not examine minor rulings such as throw-ins.

The data was collected by video examination carried out by referees committee members and FIFA instructors, Jose Maria Garcia-Aranda, head of refereeing for the sport's governing body, told Reuters.

Full story continues here, courtesy of Reuters.

Gotta love Wikipedia ... Unless your Sepp

See why here courtesy of ESPN.

Veterans Cup - here we come

I head for Veterans Cup tomorrow and will endeavor to keep up Pete's standard of reporting. I attended the Referee meeting on Tuesday and my take away from the meeting was "this may not be the World Cup but a lot of people have spent a lot of money to attend. Approach these games with respect and professionalism"

Football + Money == World Cup in the US

U.S. World Cup bid for 2018 gets boost

The 2010 World Cup is history today, leaving behind a checkered legacy.

This latest World Cup was not the international draw FIFA and South Africa had hoped it would be, and fans worldwide saw tracts of empty seats throughout the Cup.

But what was bad news for FIFA and SAWOC might turn out to be very good news for the United States’ hopes of landing either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Because this past World Cup failed to meet financial expectations, the United States -- which no one doubts can sell can sell out every World Cup game -- suddenly looks like an even more attractive option.

Full story here, courtesy of Fox Sports.

Side by side analysis of WC Final is up on www.massref.net

Check it out here.

Full unedited versions will be posted here at Kicking Back in the days ahead.

Unsung hero award: Héctor Vergara

The other day I was gently reminded by a comment here (thank you CWY2190) of the storied career of this man, Héctor Vergara (FIFA bio here).

His contribution to GER v. URU in the 3rd place match was his third game as an assistant referee at the 2010 World Cup and with the appearance, Vergara will set a FIFA record for most World Cup games as a combination of referee and assistant referee with 14.

A FIFA referee since 1993, Vergara has quite a list of laurels to his name including the following:

International Tournaments Refereed

• 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification Matches
• 2010 UAE Games
• 2009 FIFA Club World Cup
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
• 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany
• 2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification Matches
• 2005 FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2005
• 2004 FIFA Athens Olympic Games
• 2004 FIFA Athens Olympic Qualifying Tournament - Mexico
• 2004 FIFA Toyota U-23 International Tournament - Qatar
• 2003 Football Confederation (CONCACAF) Gold Cup - Mexico
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan
• 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan Qualification Matches
• 2002 Football Confederation (CONCACAF) Gold Cup
• 2001 FIFA U-20 World Youth Championship
• 2000 Olympic CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament
• 1999 CONCACAF Club Championship
• 1998 FIFA World Cup France Qualification Matches
• 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship
• 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship

FIFA Referee Profile 2004

• 1999 CONCACAF US Cup
• 1998 CONCACAF U-20 World Championship Qualification Tournament
• 1998 CONCACAF Caribbean Shell Cup
• 1997 CONCACAF US Cup

This will be Vergara’s last World Cup for certain, and perhaps his final elite matches. He’ll turn 44 in December, and as we know FIFA’s mandatory retirement age is 45. In addition to the above, he has worked 130 internationals, and now 14 of these at the World Cup, breaking a record.

Like almost all of his colleagues, this is a part-time dream as his day job is executive director of the Manitoba Soccer Association. Recently he stated in a recent interview with a Canadian newspaper, “I just want to make my family and friends proud.”. Well sir, I do believe you have accomplished that, and so much more.

More than 50 World Cup fans killed in terrorist attacks

A sad story indeed, and a facet of the world we live in today.

Bombers Kill More Than 50 in Attacks in Uganda Capital

KAMPALA, Uganda — At least three bombs exploded Sunday in a synchronized attack on large gatherings of World Cup soccer fans watching the televised final on outdoor screens in this normally peaceful capital, turning a boisterous night of cheering into scenes of death and panic. The police and witnesses said more than 50 people were killed, including some foreigners, among them at least one American.

Full story here, courtesy of the New York Times.

A programming note ...

Real life gets in the way again.

While many of you will be serving at Veterans Cup this week and weeks end, I have the dubious pleasure of attending a bar review class in Boston for the rest of the week and the weeks end. My access and time will be limited, so I have a series of posts and re-posts for you all that are of mostly World Cup flavor that I found interesting.

I will be checking in and may find the time to post additional information, and certainly will find time to monitor comments from the existing posts (you guys are burning up the latest post on Webb). Also, as soon as the massref post comes out, I will link to it here too as that I am sure will get the juices flowing. Also, on my return I have permission to post the full and unedited versions here for your reading pleasure.

For those at the Veterans Cup, any updates from the fields are appreciated, and I am sure we will be hearing from JAFO, Nigel, and maybe a Kicking Back guest contributor that was just over in South Africa and is writing furiously about the sights, sounds, and politics of the World Cup. Stand by for that one, it looks good!

I wonder what Newton thought?

Well friends, now comes the hard work. Work where we take apart a match and see what we as referees could have done differently, or better.

As before I am not going to share an opinion here about how Webb did specifically. I will reserve this one for a piece I am writing side by side with a National coach that will be posted on www.massref.net in the days ahead breaking down the final (report here). Today, I will ask a simple question, with what I believe is a very complex answer.

Do the laws of physics change for matches like these? In other words is a foul in a "regular game" the same as a foul in a "big game"? Should these matches be called the same way?

Take the following example:
I was sitting in Fat Patty's last week with the whole Region I crew after a steamy week of matches. We were having lunch and watching the URU v. NED match (report here). At one point in time, a NED player bicycled a kick and cracked a URU player in the mouth. Almost immediately there were cries of "RED CARD", "SEND HIM OFF". In reply there were cries of "WHAT, ARE YOU KIDDING? THIS IS THE WORLD CUP".

Now here was a group of very experienced referees who saw the same incident and came to two very different conclusions. Some, wanted to apply the laws as they exist and deal with the player for what they did. Others saw the pageantry in the match and just assume let the player off with a caution. What is a referee to do?

I would opine this is an untenable position for a referee at times. While the referee is certainly charged with applying the Laws of the Game in Law 5, and is also impliedly charged with upholding the Spirit of the Game, where are referees charged with upholding the pageantry of the Game? When is a foul not a foul, or a misconduct not a misconduct for the entertainment value of the game?

Granted I am oversimplifying an extraordinarily complex answer at levels such as the World Cup. I do believe however these answers become simpler the further down the "food chain" the match is. Let me use it as a spring board to make a point about matches we do everyday.

With the incident above from the World Cup final, I believe Webb painted himself into an untenable corner. For those players in that match, the bar was set that the foul in the above picture was a caution. So anything up to and including repeat offenses of this foul would receive no more than a caution. I believe the players responded accordingly in this match.

Take the incident local now. Would you allow this as a caution? Why or why not? As a referee you must always be aware of what the "tone" or "level" the match is at. There is a line that you draw as referee that if players dance over it, action must be taken. Depending how far over the line they go, will dictate the response from the referee.

A minor incursion may provoke only a mild rebuke, a look, a quiet word. A more substantial one, an "ass chewing" or misconduct. Go way over the line, and you have little choice in the matter. As referee, YOU set where that line is and how to deal with folks who go over it. Note that the line can and does change from match to match, and can even change within a match depending on how things are going. Sometimes the players need the ball taken away ... sometimes they need the ball more.

Understand that the tools you have such as cautions and send offs give cues to the players as to where that line is, and what the "tone" of the match will be. Players are looking for these cues from you, just like you as referee are looking for cues from players. Work with the players to help them understand where your "line" is, and your match management will show well for it.

Do I believe the laws of physics change for matches such as the World Cup Final? Yes I do. But I also believe that all the way up to that point everyone did just fine with the Laws as they were meant to apply. For a match, this single match, to contort the Laws, and the person charged to apply them, certainly did defy physics. History should remind us however, as it did here, that funny results can occur if we defy the Laws of Nature, and the Game.

Looks like quite a party

Spain's World Cup victory parade, in pictures:
Full post is here, courtesy of the BBC.

HBS + World Cup == World Cup Leadership Lessons

Very interesting article here, courtesy of the Harvard Business School.
Kudos to Dennis McCarthy for tweeting this one.

Referees leap to Howard Webb's defence

Former Premier League referees have defended Howard Webb after criticism of his display during Spain's 1-0 World Cup final win over the Netherlands.

Webb booked 13 players and sent off Dutchman Johnny Heitinga in a fractious and incident-packed game on Sunday. ...

Full story here, courtesy of BBC Sport.

Let the post World Cup analysis begin: But first ...

So as the World Cup comes to a close, there will be weeks and months of analysis ahead, and we here will partake in such. But to start us off, I wanted to share a somewhat humorous analysis of The Game from what would appear to be "an American perspective".

It would see clear, as ambassadors of the game here in the US, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Ladies and Gentlemen ... Howard Webb

Howard Melton Webb, born 14-JUL-1971, hails from Rotherham, South Yorkshire England. Web has been a referee since 1993 and a FIFA referee since 2005. His FIFA bio is here, and Wikipedia page is here.

Webb will be joined by Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey as his assistants for the final. No information at the time of this writing is available for the alternate referee, or alternate assistant referee.

Howard Webb's father was a referee and it was he who made his son aware of a referee's course. Howard passed the course when he was 19 years old and started refereeing locally. He became a referee in the Northern Counties East League in 1996. In the year 2000 he was included on the National List of Football League referees. By then he was only 29 years old. Three years later he was selected as a Premiership referee. In 2005 at the age of 34 he received his FIFA badge.

Webb will be the first Englishman sine 1974 to preside over a World Cup final where Jack Taylor was the last who refereed the Dutch loss to West Germany.

Webb is also the youngest at 38 to referee a World Cup final in 72 years, the last being Pierre Capdeville. 

During this time he has accumulated quite a record of matches as noted here by WorldReferee.com. Also of note is his discipline record statistics listed below:

Year	Games	Total	per game	Total	per game
2000–01	26	58	2.23	1	0.04
2001–02	32	69	2.16	5	0.16
2002–03	39	145	3.72	4	0.10
2003–04	34	92	2.94	9	0.26
2004–05	34	100	2.94	2	0.06
2005–06	47	117	2.49	7	0.15
2006–07	43	151	3.51	9	0.21
2007–08	38	128	3.37	2	0.05
2008–09	40	132	3.30	6	0.15
2009-10	35	124	3.54	4	0.11
Overall	368	1116	3.03	49	0.13

Webb's style is seemingly one of presence and communication, not strict discipline. This would seem to be emphasised in a recent BBC interview where Howard notes that, "being a good referee all comes down to the way you manage people and how you communicate with them".

NED v. ESP will be a significant test of that style as he leads us into the closing match of this quadrennial festival.

A new way to predict the World Cup winner ... Toxoplasma Gondii?!?

This one goes into the "you have to be kidding" file. However, the little blue bug to my left has a correlation with winning at World Cups, and maybe some other notable things in history.

While not conclusive by any means, the following is a fun and provoking story (it can get kind of gross in spots too) that describes this little guy and all it may have to offer the sporting world in the future.

We shall see the result of the match itself, but Spain has a toxo rate of about 45% in its population, where Netherlands has a toxo rate of a whopping 80% at last count. If that is any indication it would bear out my prediction for the final of NED 2 - ESP 1.

Of course this is against the prediction made by Paul the Pyschic Octopus the other day, who chose Spain.

This interesting article worth reading is here, courtesy of Slate.com.

Your Referee for the 3rd Place Match - Benito Archundia

I must say I do like this assignment, but did hope Benito would be doing the final, not the 3rd place match. See his official bio here, and a pretty good Wikipedia article here.

Archundia with this match will have a total of (8) at World Cup Tournaments, making him the referee with the 3rd most matches in World Cup history.

An economist and lawyer by trade (a man after my own heart), he is a tremendously experienced referee as noted by his match experience shown here, courtesy of WorldReferee.com.

While (possibly incorrectly) seen as one of the "lenient" referees for only averaging less than (4) cautions per match, he certainly is no pushover. Statistics below are instructive.

Statistics

Totals:	Home	Away	Total
Penalties	7	4	11
Red	15	12	27
Yellow	162	186	348

Averages:	Home	Away	Total
Penalties	0.08	0.04	0.12
Red	0.17	0.13	0.30
Yellow	1.82	2.09	3.91

based on 89 international matches

He certainly is no stranger to controversy as noted by his dealing with the Canadian national team, and the two incidents that have occurred with them. These are detailed in the Wikipedia page above. I do have to say though while every referee has detractors from one point or another, Archundia has a set of particularly vitriolic fans as indicated by their facebook page: The Benito Archundia Hate Society | Facebook

I for one am excited about the appointment, and look forward to Archundia working this last match of his World Cup career with the flair and professionalism he has put into his whole career.