Players who 'lunge' will get straight red at World Cup
Matt Scott
Tuesday June 6, 2006
The Guardian
World Cup referees have been ordered to send off players who "lunge" at opponents, a decree that is likely to set off a raging debate over exactly what the term entails.
The tournament's officials yesterday attended an open day in Frankfurt having been apprised of key topics in a circular sent out last week. That document, prepared by Fifa's head of refereeing José-Maria Garcia Aranda, referred to "proactive refereeing" aimed at ensuring "player safety [which] is paramount. . .we must protect the skilful players."
That will see referees issuing red cards for the sort of physical tackle that is ubiquitous in the English game. "Whether with one or two feet, players who lunge for the ball and make contact with an opponent must be dismissed for [serious foul play]," the circular states.
Though the wording, which suggests that mistiming a tackle will be considered a red-card offence, is likely to give John Terry sleepless nights, England's refereeing representative Graham Poll fully endorses the edict. "Protecting skilful players is the main thing," he said. "You want to see the best players playing the best football at the world's biggest sporting event. And referees have got to play their part in making sure they have the opportunity to do that."
As the England squad seek indicators of exactly what Fifa means by its diktat, they would be well advised to watch the first round of Group A matches on Friday involving Germany, Costa Rica, Poland and Ecuador. "It is key that we enforce them from match one or the credibility will be lost," said Aranda's missive.
Referees will be obliged to issue red cards for deliberate elbowing while any "reckless" use of the arm, regardless of intent, will earn a booking. Aranda referred to it as "a growing problem in the modern game [and] which must be dealt with very strongly this World Cup."
Mass confrontation is another issue and Fifa will attempt to eradicate players' attempts to overturn decisions by issuing cards. "The minimum caution count must be one [yellow] if the players are confronting the referee and two if they are confronting each other," the statement read. Time-wasting tactics such as belatedly handing the ball to another player at a throw-in, leaving the pitch slowly during a substitution or kicking the ball away at a free-kick will also draw cautions, while Aranda states that he expects "most" penalties to have to be retaken due to goalkeepers' encroachment.
The intention is that this World Cup will be a slicker affair than recent tournaments, particularly the much-derided officiating in Japan and Korea in 2002. To that end referees have sought intelligence on teams they are to handle, having been urged to familiarise themselves with video recordings of previous matches.
"What is important is not to prejudge players or teams, not to go in preconditioning your mind to 'this is a very physical team' or 'this is a very cynical team'," Poll said."But we must be prepared, for example, so that if a team that gets a free kick in the defensive third always hits a long ball, there is no good you loitering around the defensive third saying, 'Can we have it on that blade of grass, please'."
New orders
Serious foul play
Lunging Red card.
Elbowing (intentional) Red card
Elbowing (reckless) Yellow card
Shirt-pulling Yellow card
Handball Foul. Yellow or red card according to circumstances
Simulation (certain, not probable) Yellow card
Shirt removal Yellow card
Time wasting
Taking free-kick from wrong place Yellow card
Taking too long to go off after subbed Yellow card
Kicking or carrying ball away from free-kick Yellow card
Wrestling ball at free-kick or after goal scored Yellow card
Delaying throw-in and handing to team-mate Yellow card
