From the Spot of the Foul

How Many Fingers Do You See?

Dear Massimo,

How many fingers do you see?

Is it one, or are there three?

“There’s one!” I shouted. “Only one!”

“For three would not make sense to me.”

 

A baseball ump would not do that.

Would he do that? He wouldn’t do that.

A basketball ref would not do that.

Would he do that? He wouldn’t do that.

A football ref would not do that.

Would he do that? He wouldn’t do that.

A hockey ref would not do that.

Would he do that? He wouldn’t do that.

 

But, Massimo Busacca, you did do that!

You did do that! You did do that!

But, Massimo Busacca, you did to that!

You did do that! You did do that!

 

They must have called your mother a whore.

Or something like that. Or something like that.

They must have called your sister a whore.

Or something like that. Or something like that.

 

But, Massimo Busacca, you can’t do that!

You’re better than that! You’re better than that!

But, Massimo Busacca, you can’t do that!

You’re better than that! You’re better than that!

Best,

Theodor Seuss Geisel

BACKGROUND

21 Sep 2009   Swiss Ref Banned Over Fan Insult

Is 5 > 3?

The Europa League gets underway next week, but when the competition moves into its Group Stage on Sept17, it will be more than just a new league – it will be the venue for the continuation of an officiating experiment: the use of two additional referee’s assistants.

This will comprise an assistant positioned behind the goal lines at either end of the pitch in order to help the referee and his assistants along the sidelines make decisions regarding incidents (fouls, misconduct) within the penalty areas, and make decisions regarding goals (in lieu of goal line technology). Initially, no decisions regarding play outside the penalty areas will be made by these two goal line assistants. Communication with the referee will be via headsets.

This experimental addition of assistants is a follow up to the initial use at qualifying round mini-tournaments during the UEFA European Under-19 Championship held during the autumn of 2008. After receiving a report on the experiment involving the additional assistant referees, the members of the FIFA Executive Committee and football’s lawmakers-the International Football Association Board (IFAB)- at their 2009 annual general meeting in Nassau, Bahamas, approved the proposal of the UEFA President Michel Platini to continue FIFA’s experiment, this time in a professional league.

This reminds me of when the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the U.S. added a third official in 1988 (and FIBA did so afterwards, using it for the first time in international competition in 2006). This was initiated as an experiment during the 1978-79 season, but the league when back to the two-referee system the following few seasons because the owners of the teams in the NBA deemed three referees too costly. The college game had been using the three-referee system for some time when the NBA finally instituted it permanently.

Here is what the executive vice-president of NBA operations, Rod Thorn, said around the time of the NBA’s approval: “''The game has become faster and quicker and is being played by bigger people, and it's our opinion that an extra pair of eyes would aid in covering the entire court more. With two officials, there are times now that the entire court is not covered. With a third official it reduces the decisions each official has to make from one-half to a third of the court. It's also our feeling that with six pair of eyes watching the court, fewer violent acts would go undetected, and the players will become aware that they no longer can get away with some of the cute physical things they may have gotten away with that two officials have been unable to pick up.''

Sound familiar? It sure does. Here is what UEFA President Michel Platini recently said about the use of two additional referee’s assistants:

"Everyone agrees on the need to help referees. With football getting ever faster and the players ever fitter, it sometimes seems the men in black face a mission impossible. Two extra pairs of eyes focusing on the penalty areas are of valuable assistance to the referee and strengthen the referee team in confidence and numbers, while allowing the game to flow. The best teams are often the ones who demonstrate the greatest cohesion – by strengthening the position of the main referee we are creating the ideal conditions for the referee team to also be one of the best."

I just don’t see how this will ‘ruin the game’ or ‘compromise the human aspect of the game’ or any other similar argument put forth by fans and players. The game needs to change as the game changes – it is most definitely a faster game played by bigger, stronger, quicker, and faster athletes. Let’s allow the officiating to keep up with changed conditions in order to try to make it a better game.