Is about Time for Referees

[Observer]

I agree on the issue on what going on in the penalty area. Is madness which is not allowed in any other situation on the field.

Do allyuh think the corner marking to spot the ball should be increased to "2 or 3 yards" making delivery more effective & in theory corners more an advantage. Especially since the advert. boards so close??


Referees to clamp down on off-the-ball 'wrestling'

GENEVA, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Referees are to crack down on jostling in the penalty area before free kicks and corners, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Thursday.

 
The unwritten practice of kicking the ball out of play when a player is injured and returning it to the team which originally had possession is also to stop, UEFA said following a meeting of referees at its headquarters in Nyon.


According to UEFA, the decisions were made to combat 'aspects of the game which are harming its image'.

'The penalty area is not a wrestling ring and shirt pulling is not part of football, so as Chairman of the UEFA Referees Committee I will support the referees who have the courage to punish holding and pushing in the penalty area,' said UEFA referees committee chairman, Angel María Villar Llona in a statement.

'Referees have been instructed to initially give a verbal warning to players who are using their arms illegally to hold, push, jostle for position and a further infringement...should be punished by a yellow or red card.'

The decision to stop a match to allow an injured player to receive treatment will now lie squarely with the referee, UEFA said. Teams should not stop playing or kick the ball out of play unless told to do so by the match official.

'Consequently, however, if an injured player's team does put the ball out of play, they should not expect the ball to be returned to them,' UEFA said.


 

[Mango Chow!]

It might be an implausible suggestion but the truth of the matter is that fifa should mandate that referees have some acceptable level of having played the game before becoming referees.  Alot of the problems with refereeing comes from their inabilities to differentiate between genuine infractions (like a man tripping a player from a skate-tackle) from fake ones (cronaldo & co. sticking or "trailing" they leg out after a defender tackle them to make it look like they've been fouled) and subsequently making poor decisions or issuing unwarranted cards, etc.  It is unreasonable to expect referees to see everything correctly or make every decison a wise one, but from what I see when I am watching football in all these leagues all around the world, AND IN TRINIDAD plenty of them really need PLENTY MORE TRAINING!!
   As for the specific jostling in the box, even yesterday during the Ghana-spain game the commentator was lamenting the fact that a Ghanaian defender got away with some shirt -pulling that would have warranted a penalty......but be saying this while the spanish player had a handful of Ghanaian shirt, too (Africa-hater), so, in a case like that, who gets called for the foul?  the attacker or the defender?  Since both of them tugging each other shirt, let them play!  That is something that you can only penalize if you see whodunnit first, IMO.     

[Observer]

The best thing is to do away wid uniform and use body paint or spandex   

[WestCoast]

The best thing is to do away wid uniform and use body paint or spandex   

and shaving man head

[Coach]

The shirt pulling in the penalty area, what is the ref going to do, give a penalty shot. This is a tough decision, as a ref you can't make that call unless it's blatant. FIFA has to be careful in passing this law, since a lot of refs don't use there own discretion.

[Bakes]

The shirt pulling in the penalty area, what is the ref going to do, give a penalty shot. This is a tough decision, as a ref you can't make that call unless it's blatant. FIFA has to be careful in passing this law, since a lot of refs don't use there own discretion.

Maybe an indirect free-kick right outside the box if the foul is on an offensive player

The decision to stop a match to allow an injured player to receive treatment will now lie squarely with the referee, UEFA said. Teams should not stop playing or kick the ball out of play unless told to do so by the match official.

'Consequently, however, if an injured player's team does put the ball out of play, they should not expect the ball to be returned to them,' UEFA said.

this is nonsense...and won't change the current status quo.  Many teams may still opt to kick the ball out on account of sportsmanship.  There never was any guarantee of getting the ball back, and they still can rightly expect the opposing team to return posession in reciprocation of that sportsmanship.

They need to leave well enough alone.

[PantherX]

The best thing is to do away wid uniform and use body paint or spandex   

So the idea of 22 naked men running around is appealing to you?

If that came to pass it would spell the end of the sliding tackle for sure..

[Mango Chow!]

  The penalty call that was made against Scotland in their game today is further proof that these referees need to have a better understanding of the game that they so heavily influence.  It is really, absolutely beyond me that this referee could't see from where he was positioned, that this was a dive of the worst degree.  I wonder if uefa going and ban THIS referee for the next round of games?

[palos]

De jostlin in de penalty area on free kicks and corners HAS reached ridiculous levels.  As Observer say, this type of "action" is not tolerated in any other area of the field so why should it be ignored in the penalty area?

That said....in my opinion, the genesis of this behaviour lies with instructions to players to "not let their man get away".  It is a restrictive, defensive mind set where emphasis is placed on restricting the attacker from having time and space to play.

The same with the ubiquitously named "tactical foul".  You foul the opponent for the sole purpose of disturbing the flow of their game.  Refs don't give yellows for these fouls because they're deemed to be relatively harmless, but it significantly decreases the entertainment value of games.  Another defensive tactic employed by many teams.  Chelsea is a great example of an exponent of the tactical foul.

If teams are allowed to get away with jostling, shirt pulling, and holding in the penalty area as well as go unpunsihed with their use of the tactical fouls essentially restricting attacking play, attacking players then see nothing wrong with trying to "con" the referree into giving them an advantage via the dead ball.  All this combines to the detriment of the game itself.

Is a vicious cycle stemmed from a greater philosophy where emphasis is not placed on outscoring the opponent, but rather conceding less goals than the opponent.  Might seem to be the same thing....may have the same result...but 2 completely different paths of earning that result.

Jes my 2 cents anyway.