must be nice to know you are the ref of one of the worst officiated matches in the history of the world cup.

congrats slovenia, after all the s**t talked about the usa you were given a draw from a biased referee.

im am beyond disgusted right now.

this changes the way i look at football entirely, or at least the world stage of football.

share your thoughts...

**** happens, it's not like the US was the only one ****ed over even today.

Yeah, only my teams.

The Malian ref's decision was so ridiculous that I think FIFA should fully investigate any debts that he or his family might have and whether anyone he knows has recently been kidnapped. The only thing he could have possibly seen was that the US looked good for a goal and he had to stop it, because otherwise he would have allowed the goal or given a penalty.

I thought the quality of refereeing was very decent until today's Germany-Serbia and USA-Slovenia matches..

I thought the quality of refereeing was very decent until today's Germany-Serbia and USA-Slovenia matches..

I agree completely. The refs have been good up until today. But what are you going to do, there will always be idiotic referees and good ones.

To be honest I thought the USA-Slovenia ref was fine until the final call. After that call it makes me really question Finley's "handball" when the US really started pressing down 1-0. At the time I thought it was a bad call, but an honest mistake perhaps from a bad angle, and I think most people did as well. Now? It's not exactly like this sport is immune from crooked refs and match fixing.

Worst World Cup since Italia 90.

If things continue how they are going, nobody will give a sh!t about this tournament by the time the quarter finals come around..

I'm just waiting to hear the news about someone finally going insane from the vuvuzelas and going on a shooting spree

I thought the quality of refereeing was very decent until today's Germany-Serbia and USA-Slovenia matches..

what is wrong with the referee in Germany vs Serbia match?? is he guilty because Germany lost??? if you think that Klose didn't deserve double yellow card, look at this and look carefuly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dJoLUuKPCM

if you still think that Klose didn't deserve that booking(s), then you can all go to watch voleyball, because you don't know sh*t about football!!! they even missed penalty, and you are still complaining about referee???

That ******* nutjob managed to show like 1000 yellow cards in a match that was totally fair and would have ended without a single card if he was a decent ref.

Klose barely made contact on the first yellow and the referee's supposed to at least give a warning but he didn't even do that.

As for some of the other referees, this is what happens when you appoint referees who officiate games in small leagues from Mali or KSA or wherever. Btw, the Spanish referee's given 11 red cards in the 17 La Liga games he did this year.

Klose barely made contact on the first yellow and the referee's supposed to at least give a warning but he didn't even do that.


try to find tomorrow highlights of that game on youtube and you will see that Klose made one foul before that, not so important... and he kicks the ball after ref. called the offside, and he give him a warning... and after that he make foul and deserve yellow card... and he made a contact, when i find on youtube good video, i will post it and you will see that he made small contact, butt he made that from his back...

slo-usa and ger-ser games are lessons for refferees they will see how they can effect on a game

if klose deserved a red card, in comparison tim cahill deserves a 6 match ban

if klose deserved a red card, in comparison tim cahill deserves a 6 match ban

yea, it should get not six, 12 match ban!

Klose didn't deserved RED CARD, butt he deserved 2 YELLOWS!!!

although it was crappy call, it's not the end of the world, its not like the usa has a chance to win the world cup or anything. slovenia deserve win today.

the italy vs australia referee has been the worst to impact the world cup in all time, italy should have been out:

l1kx8aOaSbA


you yanks are yelling like this ruin your chance, pffffffffffff:rofl::rofl::rofl:

in the meantime enjoy this from the darkies in south africa

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9380/1276268849866.gif

Stay classy.

in the meantime enjoy this from the darkies in south africa

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9380/1276268849866.gif

http://hurricanejill.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/doublefacepalm2.jpg

Come on, American dudes... You can't talk about match fixing. That's totally stupid. It was a single refereeing error. You don't fix a match by making one single "mistake". The refereeing of Coulibaly was fairly good. The only important mistake was not awarding the US goal. You can't talk about corruption. I tell you what's really happening: you can't accept defeat (well, in this case, draw; still, no good for you). You make the ******* end of the world from a single refereeing error against you. These things happen fairly often, and not only in leagues such as Mali, Seychelles etc. but in competitions like Champions League, World Cups (and I know that now that you read World Cup you're gonna say "Yeah, the referees from 3rd world countries", but I'm gonna say "No. Any referee can make that kind of call."). You got to get over it.

Come on, American dudes... You can't talk about match fixing. That's totally stupid. It was a single refereeing error. You don't fix a match by making one single "mistake". The refereeing of Coulibaly was fairly good. The only important mistake was not awarding the US goal. You can't talk about corruption. I tell you what's really happening: you can't accept defeat (well, in this case, draw; still, no good for you). You make the ******* end of the world from a single refereeing error against you. These things happen fairly often, and not only in leagues such as Mali, Seychelles etc. but in competitions like Champions League, World Cups (and I know that now that you read World Cup you're gonna say "Yeah, the referees from 3rd world countries", but I'm gonna say "No. Any referee can make that kind of call."). You got to get over it.

Like I said, I didn't think he was bad, but the last call makes me look back at the match, and Finley getting booked in the first half for a handball when the ball smacked him in the face and then the ball rebounded dangerously for an American player in the box is extremely suspicious in light of the last call.

freakin hell...enough of the over-reaction already. The standard of refereeing has been fantastic with the exception of a couple of games. You cannot expect perfect officiating. The only bad call was the disallowed goal.

freakin hell...enough of the over-reaction already. The standard of refereeing has been fantastic with the exception of a couple of games. You cannot expect perfect officiating.

Well, both of my teams got utterly ****ed yesterday in back-to-back games. What do you expect?

Well, both of my teams got utterly ****ed yesterday in back-to-back games. What do you expect?

Klose's accumulation of fouls got him sent off . And podolski had a chance to equalize but he missed. I don't see the fuss there. As I said the only bad call was the disallowed goal but apparently the ref saw an infringement. Calling it match fixing and stuff is just absolute ludicrous.

Podolski blew a chance to salvage the game (actually he blew about 5 chances to salvage the game), but it was ruined by halftime. Klose accumulated 3 fouls, none of which were worthy of a yellow on their own merit. Perhaps a yellow could be deserved for all 3 combined, but not two yellows. It was a disgrace, and it wasn't just the Klose fouls; the ref was so quick to book that defenders were terrified to even challenge for the ball. They showed one incident up close where an attacker was running right at Lahm. Lahm is a sure tackler and extremely good. He looked terrified to even go for the ball. This was true of everyone on the pitch.

Podolski blew a chance to salvage the game (actually he blew about 5 chances to salvage the game), but it was ruined by halftime. Klose accumulated 3 fouls, none of which were worthy of a yellow on their own merit. Perhaps a yellow could be deserved for all 3 combined, but not two yellows. It was a disgrace, and it wasn't just the Klose fouls; the ref was so quick to book that defenders were terrified to even challenge for the ball. They showed one incident up close where an attacker was running right at Lahm. Lahm is a sure tackler and extremely good. He looked terrified to even go for the ball. This was true of everyone on the pitch.

if the Germany won that match, no one will complain about the referee! you think you are right, i know you are not right! the referee criterium was the same for both teams, and if Ivanovic for example made one more foul, he will get second yellow! so, don't talk nonsenses and making the referee's bad because you'r teams didn't won their matches!

Come on, American dudes... You can't talk about match fixing. That's totally stupid. It was a single refereeing error. You don't fix a match by making one single "mistake". The refereeing of Coulibaly was fairly good. The only important mistake was not awarding the US goal. You can't talk about corruption. I tell you what's really happening: you can't accept defeat (well, in this case, draw; still, no good for you). You make the ******* end of the world from a single refereeing error against you.

Why should we accept defeat when we scored more goals than Slovenia? We were robbed, simple as that. Soccer IS the most corrupt sport on the planet, and it's institutional with a mandate directly from FIFA. Video reply is needed, but that ain't going to happen.

Oh no, I would've complained even if we had won 7-0 or something. He was just awful.

Soccer IS the most corrupt sport on the planet

NBA is worse.

And probably a lot of smaller sports have a lot of corrupt match fixing since it's not that big of a sport and not heavily regulated such as soccer.

Anyone notice in the England-Algeria match; the Uzbek ref was paired with a Kyrgyz linesman. Nice work there FIFA. :cool:

if the Germany won that match, no one will complain about the referee! you think you are right, i know you are not right! the referee criterium was the same for both teams, and if Ivanovic for example made one more foul, he will get second yellow! so, don't talk nonsenses and making the referee's bad because you'r teams didn't won their matches!

It has nothing to do with the serbs winning the match. We had our chances to tie or win it by ourselves, but we didnt. But fact is, this ref destroyed the game. Period. But you are right, Ivanovic was and some others were very carefully after the first yellow. I read Antic warned his players about the ref. Maybe Löw should have done the same. And after the first few yellows, Klose should have bee intelligent enough, to make his not happen.

It has nothing to do with the serbs winning the match. We had our chances to tie or win it by ourselves, but we didnt. But fact is, this ref destroyed the game. Period. But you are right, Ivanovic was and some others were very carefully after the first yellow. I read Antic warned his players about the ref. Maybe Löw should have done the same. And after the first few yellows, Klose should have bee intelligent enough, to make his not happen.

you are the only one who get's my point! and i agree about the referee, he destroyed the game, butt he is not guilty about your lose, players are.

And yet, he still rightfully says that the ref ruined the match.

NBA is worse.

And probably a lot of smaller sports have a lot of corrupt match fixing since it's not that big of a sport and not heavily regulated such as soccer.

Couldn't agree with you more. We actually put our bad referees in prison (H)

Video reply is needed, but that ain't going to happen.

Armando Galarraga no hitter, mlb anyone?

http://pt.fifa.com/mm//Photo/Tournament/Competition/01/25/05/85/1250585_FULL-LND.jpg

Ronaldo did dive a couple of times in the game, before all the haters come bashing in; but the fact is that is one of the stupidest yellow cards I've seen.

although it was crappy call, it's not the end of the world, its not like the usa has a chance to win the world cup or anything. slovenia deserve win today.

you yanks are yelling like this ruin your chance, pffffffffffff:rofl::rofl::rofl:

in the meantime enjoy this from the darkies in south africa


how did slovenia deserve to win ?

they were playing as if this is the wwe, they had to commit foul after foul to
accomplish anything, thats why dempsey decided to teach them a lesson.

& how you figure we dont have a chance to win the world cup ?

spain has lost 2x in the last few years, one this world cup & a 2-0 blowout
given by the usa.

whens the last time your country beat a european counrty powerhouse ?

we arent 14th in the world playing a foreigners game for no reason, just admit the fact we have caught on to how this game is played & we are on the come up.

"Yeah, the referees from 3rd world countries", but I'm gonna say "No. Any referee can make that kind of call."). You got to get over it.

i never said the match was fixed, but lets be real there was definitely a biased towards the usa.
slovenia got all the calls, where was the red card for the body slamming of the beast jozy altidore just outside the box ?

cmon now they had to play him dirty to stop him, all i heard before the match was how strong slovenia's defenders were.
but they couldnt stop altidore.

as far as the 3rd goal goes you know & i know edu didnt foul anyone, he ran around the player to score, guess thats a foul.
but bocanegra in a headlock, & bradley being dragged to the turf is just good play.

americans ?

we arent that bad of a nation or people for that matter.

i dont understand you foreigners at all, if we are so bad, why call for us to help in the world wars, to save europe from becoming the continent of germany.

what you guys need to do is be a little more respectful of our nation, because w/o us you wouldnt be in the country you live in.
you would be a neo nazi, blond haired blue eyed baby born in auscwitz.

& then rebuild your entire continent from our own money.

matter of fact, i dont think there is a nation in this world we havent helped or given aid to.

now tell me how we are so bad ?

what makes the people of europe so much better than the usa ?

i dont care where the ref is from a world power or a 3rd world nation, on a stage as grand as this you need to be on top of your game, just as the players playing must be.

we are over the fact we were screwed, its the fact you guys cant seem to want to respect the fact we are a better team than 7/8ths of european nations who have been playing this sport a lot longer than we have.

stop hating on the usa, cause some of the american people could be your cousins or uncles, or family members.

i truly think the problem lies in the fact your countries have been around forever, we have been here almost 400 years & we have more than almost every nation in the world.

sounds like jealousy, & everytime the usa achieves something, you find something stupid to say about the usa.
& then turn it around on us as if thats how we act.

Worst World Cup since Italia 90.

I agree, although if we talk only about refereeing, then World Cup 2002 was probably the worst.

But even the worst World Cup is a World Cup – I mean, I will always enjoy watching it.



I am one of the few (maybe the only one?) who don’t think the refereeing on Germany vs. Serbia was that bad. The problem is: football refereeing, while based on objective rules, is still very subjective. Some will favour a harsher refereeing, some will not.

(I just remembered it was possible to select the referee harshness level on International Superstar Soccer – the Asian guy was the harsher one, the black guy was the less harsh one, and the white guy was the in-between one.)

The real problem for me is when the refereeing is not constant during a match. On Germany vs. Serbia, if the referee was better (but still harsh), he would probably have red-carded one or two more players, but on the second half he got a little less harsh. That’s my main complain about him, his inconsistency, hot his harshness.

i never said the match was fixed, but lets be real there was definitely a biased towards the usa.
slovenia got all the calls, where was the red card for the body slamming of the beast jozy altidore just outside the box ?

cmon now they had to play him dirty to stop him, all i heard before the match was how strong slovenia's defenders were.
but they couldnt stop altidore.

as far as the 3rd goal goes you know & i know edu didnt foul anyone, he ran around the player to score, guess thats a foul.
but bocanegra in a headlock, & bradley being dragged to the turf is just good play.

americans ?

we arent that bad of a nation or people for that matter.

i dont understand you foreigners at all, if we are so bad, why call for us to help in the world wars, to save europe from becoming the continent of germany.

what you guys need to do is be a little more respectful of our nation, because w/o us you wouldnt be in the country you live in.
you would be a neo nazi, blond haired blue eyed baby born in auscwitz.

& then rebuild your entire continent from our own money.

matter of fact, i dont think there is a nation in this world we havent helped or given aid to.

now tell me how we are so bad ?

what makes the people of europe so much better than the usa ?

i dont care where the ref is from a world power or a 3rd world nation, on a stage as grand as this you need to be on top of your game, just as the players playing must be.

we are over the fact we were screwed, its the fact you guys cant seem to want to respect the fact we are a better team than 7/8ths of european nations who have been playing this sport a lot longer than we have.

stop hating on the usa, cause some of the american people could be your cousins or uncles, or family members.

i truly think the problem lies in the fact your countries have been around forever, we have been here almost 400 years & we have more than almost every nation in the world.

sounds like jealousy, & everytime the usa achieves something, you find something stupid to say about the usa.
& then turn it around on us as if thats how we act.

Oh no...

I agree, although if we talk only about refereeing, then World Cup 2002 was probably the worst.

But even the worst World Cup is a World Cup – I mean, I will always enjoy watching it.


I'm actually finding this World Cup quite a bit better than 2006 - higher technical level overall, more balanced groups and matches. In any case, let's hope excessive caution does not suck the life out of the playoffs as it did last time.


But even the worst World Cup is a World Cup – I mean, I will always enjoy watching it.


Same to me :)

i never said the match was fixed, but lets be real there was definitely a biased towards the usa.
slovenia got all the calls, where was the red card for the body slamming of the beast jozy altidore just outside the box ?

cmon now they had to play him dirty to stop him, all i heard before the match was how strong slovenia's defenders were.
but they couldnt stop altidore.

as far as the 3rd goal goes you know & i know edu didnt foul anyone, he ran around the player to score, guess thats a foul.
but bocanegra in a headlock, & bradley being dragged to the turf is just good play.

americans ?

we arent that bad of a nation or people for that matter.

i dont understand you foreigners at all, if we are so bad, why call for us to help in the world wars, to save europe from becoming the continent of germany.

what you guys need to do is be a little more respectful of our nation, because w/o us you wouldnt be in the country you live in.
you would be a neo nazi, blond haired blue eyed baby born in auscwitz.

& then rebuild your entire continent from our own money.

matter of fact, i dont think there is a nation in this world we havent helped or given aid to.

now tell me how we are so bad ?

what makes the people of europe so much better than the usa ?

i dont care where the ref is from a world power or a 3rd world nation, on a stage as grand as this you need to be on top of your game, just as the players playing must be.

we are over the fact we were screwed, its the fact you guys cant seem to want to respect the fact we are a better team than 7/8ths of european nations who have been playing this sport a lot longer than we have.

stop hating on the usa, cause some of the american people could be your cousins or uncles, or family members.

i truly think the problem lies in the fact your countries have been around forever, we have been here almost 400 years & we have more than almost every nation in the world.

sounds like jealousy, & everytime the usa achieves something, you find something stupid to say about the usa.
& then turn it around on us as if thats how we act.

This is why we should lock the FIFA regulars in their own forums and not let them out.

This is why we should lock the FIFA regulars in their own forums and not let them out.

Shockingly my neg didn't take his rep into red. Usually when it's this low I can do it with 2 clicks of the mouse.

^ hah, I wonder what your sig is trying to say?

I'm surprised that you are maintaining that stance of corruption, despite admitting that the ref made only 2 bad calls all game ... don't get me wrong, the US were robbed because there was no foul on a Slovenian player to be called; but the ref blew the whistle before Edu even made contact with the ball for the "goal" ...

FIFA apparently made it clear that refs are going to specifically look out for grabbing of shirts / other manhandling in the box during setpieces ... the man just blew the whistle coz of the view he had of Bocanegra grabbing the Slovenian chap, and had blown before Bocanegra was himself dragged to the ground ... in fact, it looked like he had clearly made his mind up to blow for a foul due to the grabbing, coz the whistle was on his way to his lips the moment Donovan hit the ball -- and that was the huge error in judgment ...

despite my siding with the Americans, I've been sick of listening to Chris Fowler and Alexi Lalas since that match, coz they can't stop talking about it at every opportunity ... and Fowler went into the realm of inappropriate by kinda making fun of the ref's name (it rhymes with his country's name), and then insinuating that African refs are sub-standard based on his watching of one match arbitrated by an African ...

anyway, having seen Byron Moreno at 2002, this just does not compare ... the corruption there was evident, and this match was absolutely nothing compared to that one ... in fact, Italy got robbed of a totally legit goal against Croatia under even more bizarre circumstances than this USA one ... this was just a case of one official who premeditated a call, and is having to face the dire consequences ...

This is why we should lock the FIFA regulars in their own forums and not let them out.

Haha so true..

i never said the match was fixed, but lets be real there was definitely a biased towards the usa.
slovenia got all the calls, where was the red card for the body slamming of the beast jozy altidore just outside the box ?

cmon now they had to play him dirty to stop him, all i heard before the match was how strong slovenia's defenders were.
but they couldnt stop altidore.

as far as the 3rd goal goes you know & i know edu didnt foul anyone, he ran around the player to score, guess thats a foul.
but bocanegra in a headlock, & bradley being dragged to the turf is just good play.

americans ?

we arent that bad of a nation or people for that matter.

i dont understand you foreigners at all, if we are so bad, why call for us to help in the world wars, to save europe from becoming the continent of germany.

what you guys need to do is be a little more respectful of our nation, because w/o us you wouldnt be in the country you live in.
you would be a neo nazi, blond haired blue eyed baby born in auscwitz.

& then rebuild your entire continent from our own money.

matter of fact, i dont think there is a nation in this world we havent helped or given aid to.

now tell me how we are so bad ?

what makes the people of europe so much better than the usa ?

i dont care where the ref is from a world power or a 3rd world nation, on a stage as grand as this you need to be on top of your game, just as the players playing must be.

we are over the fact we were screwed, its the fact you guys cant seem to want to respect the fact we are a better team than 7/8ths of european nations who have been playing this sport a lot longer than we have.

stop hating on the usa, cause some of the american people could be your cousins or uncles, or family members.

i truly think the problem lies in the fact your countries have been around forever, we have been here almost 400 years & we have more than almost every nation in the world.

sounds like jealousy, & everytime the usa achieves something, you find something stupid to say about the usa.
& then turn it around on us as if thats how we act.

Now lets all thank the yanks for saving the whole world over and over again. Im german and im truly glad im not blueeyed blond born in Auschwitz. ( BTW i always thought the "non-aryans" were there....)
Also i never will understand the people in the near east for kind of hating you, with all these good things you have done there within the last 60 years...

Hahaha not only France's National Team is in the gutter, but their referee is pretty awful! He had no clue what he was doing just now in Brasil-Ivory Coast

He was the opposite to the spanyard from the ger-srb match. But quite as much as bad.

There are always good and bad referees at all levels. Honestly, complaining about this absolutely pointless because it's a part of the game. Fail.

Yeah, let's just let everything bad be as it is and not complain about anything ever again.

I understand that the call was made and its time to move forward but I want this stupid a** ref to come forward and admit his ridiculous call. If this were a US sport the media and players would have broken this guy down so bad he would either never ref again or would be in tears begging for forgiveness. If you dont believe me then look at a recent example of the baseball umpire(Joyce) that made a similar call and blew a perfect game for the White Sox pitcher and that wasn't even a playoff game. Basketball and NFL wont have these problems because of instant replay but if you have no safety net then you will continue to have 3rd world refs screwing it up for teams like us. I really dont care what calls were made for other teams. We were red carded for a marginal foul in the last World Cup against Italy and we were given red cards in 2 group games in the Confederations Cup. I'm not saying people dont want to see the US do good, but I'm just saying......

The standard of refereeing was being good on the first games because there was no competitiveness or any tough calls for the referees in those matches. To put it simply, the games for the 1st round were so crappy that nothing interesting happened.

As always, the 2nd round gets better, games get more competitive and tougher calls come into play. That's when the refs **** up, and they always **** up. Since the officials come from everywhere, and their standards are quite different, you get to see every type of **** going on. Having a referee from Mali or another one from Seychelles in the World Cup doesnt help (with all due respect).

The standard of refereeing was being good on the first games because there was no competitiveness or any tough calls for the referees in those matches. To put it simply, the games for the 1st round were so crappy that nothing interesting happened.

As always, the 2nd round gets better, games get more competitive and tougher calls come into play. That's when the refs **** up, and they always **** up.

Spot on, unfortunately. Judging from the events on Germany v Serbia and Brazil v Cote d'Ivoire it seems that a combat of Luso-Dutch proportions is just around the corner.

The standard of refereeing was being good on the first games because there was no competitiveness or any tough calls for the referees in those matches. To put it simply, the games for the 1st round were so crappy that nothing interesting happened.

As always, the 2nd round gets better, games get more competitive and tougher calls come into play. That's when the refs **** up, and they always **** up. Since the officials come from everywhere, and their standards are quite different, you get to see every type of **** going on. Having a referee from Mali or another one from Seychelles in the World Cup doesnt help (with all due respect).

Definitely agreed. I know they're trying to be all-inclusive by appointing refs from all over the globe but I prefer if they went for the best refs instead of this bullsh*t.

Definitely agreed. I know they're trying to be all-inclusive by appointing refs from all over the globe but I prefer if they went for the best refs instead of this bullsh*t.pray tell, who are these "best refs"?

and the World Cup is trying to be all-inclusive? really? what a surprise!

pray tell, who are these "best refs"?

and the World Cup is trying to be all-inclusive? really? what a surprise!

I'm sure they have some sort of standard for evaluating the performance and quality of referees, don't they?
My point is, if the most proven 5 refs all coincidentally happen to have the same nationality (say, Netherlands), then I won't mind all 5 of them refereeing some 5 matches as opposed to just picking one of them and trying to have a mix of all nationalities for the other 4 matches by picking refs from all over the world (who happen to be second-tier and unproven on a global scale) just for the sake of inclusiveness and balance of nationalities.

just for the sake of inclusiveness and balance of nationalities.

And politics.

I'm sure they have some sort of standard for evaluating the performance and quality of referees, don't they?
My point is, if the most proven 5 refs all coincidentally happen to have the same nationality (say, Netherlands), then I won't mind all 5 of them refereeing some 5 matches as opposed to just picking one of them and trying to have a mix of all nationalities for the other 4 matches by picking refs from all over the world (who happen to be second-tier and unproven on a global scale) just for the sake of inclusiveness and balance of nationalities.second tier? do you really think that refs are given their status by their local office? like the guy in Seychelles goes down to the local ref store, and buys himself a ref license? and since African officials are obviously going to get a couple of spots at the World Cup, he'll get himself one of those too? come on ...

they do indeed have tests to see who the best refs are ... every referee who officiates at a FIFA-sanctioned event holds a FIFA license badge that marks them as the best ... these refs have, through their careers as refs, gone through several progressive levels of tests and experience, before being awarded the FIFA license badge ... do you notice that each ref has a badge on his shirt? that's not just for decoration ... in domestic league matches, you may notice that some refs have a big "FIFA" badge on their shirt fronts, while others don't (even in the major European leagues) ... the ones who have a FIFA badge on their shirt are members of the highest officiating echelon; those who don't, aren't [yet] ... and anyone who has a FIFA badge has gone through the most rigorous tests in order to be certified a member of that elite group, regardless of their nationality ...

what you are getting at, though, is making refereeing analogous to playing; the best players in the world compete at the highest level every week, and face the pressure of those moments ... these top players are the ones chosen to represent their country at the World Cup ... so if referees aren't facing the same level of pressure every week, then it would be inevitable that they would f*ck up when the pressure is suddenly ratcheted up to the highest levels (as is the case at the World Cup) ...

I understand the analogy, but FIFA have their standards as standard across the board ... they aren't hiring refs based on their CVs being submitted, and then conducting short interviews ... refs who are candidates for the World Cup get together at a camp, where they are again tested -- both physically, and in their craft -- and cut accordingly ... so the refs at the World Cup constantly pass quality checks ...

suggesting that refs from the more elite leagues in the world would be better than some guy from the Seychelles is erroneous, even if you just consider how times during a season refereeing decisions are completely derided in those big European leagues ... it is a thankless job ... and this particular incident is being blown way out of proportion, and is being used as an excuse to very wrongly deride the capacity of all people from those "second tier" continents ... or are they third worl-uh-tier?

suggesting that refs from the more elite leagues in the world would be better than some guy from the Seychelles is erroneous, even if you just consider how times during a season refereeing decisions are completely derided in those big European leagues ... it is a thankless job ... and this particular incident is being blown way out of proportion, and is being used as an excuse to very wrongly deride the capacity of all people from those "second tier" continents ... or are they third worl-uh-tier?

Chill dude! By second-tier refs I don't mean refs coming from third world countries but refs who generally are not proven on a global scale, whether they are from England or Germany or Azerbaijan or Mali. Maybe my example of choosing Netherlands lead you to believe that I'm biased towards more elite leagues but that certainly wasn't my intention..
I was just presuming that if a world-wide standard exists that perhaps quantitatively evaluates referees then it should be the main criteria for choosing refs :)

All the refs have to pass these standards, but they still just choose one ref from each country, don't they? I remember there being discussion about Howard Webb being the one chosen for England.

What night is saying, and rightly so, is that it would make more sense for nationality not to be a factor in determining who goes to the World Cup. Whether you end up with 4 Burmese refs and no Spanish or the other way around, they would all get in on their ability only.

You only have to make sure you have enough represented nationalities so you don't get Webb officiating an England match, and even then, they're professionals so patriotism shouldn't be a factor in, but that's peripheral.

Don't get your panties in a bunch.

I was just presuming that if a world-wide standard exists that perhaps quantitatively evaluates referees then it should be the main criteria for choosing refs :)and it is ... FIFA have a very stringent set of constant evaluations to ensure that refs are of the highest quality ... but the problem lies with FIFA, IMO, and the strict World-Cup-specific instructions they've given to the refs ...

refs were told specifically for this tournament to look out for roughing inside the area on set-pieces ... that's why Coulibaly was ready to blow his whistle as soon as Donovan made contact with the ball ... the refs have also been told to seriously clamp down on challenges with raised studs, and tackles from behind ... that's why you've seen a few "soft" yellows for tackles that remotely fit that description (especially the Germany match, where a poor precedent was set for a yellow, and the ref had no choice but to stick to precedent in order to remain consistent) ... the problem lies with FIFA ...

again, I don't think it has anything to do with the nationality of the official; they're just following FIFA's tournament-specific directions ... the talk about officials from certain countries being sub-standard or corrupt has been shameful ... good to hear that you're not one of them ...


EDIT:


All the refs have to pass these standards, but they still just choose one ref from each country, don't they? I remember there being discussion about Howard Webb being the one chosen for England.

What night is saying, and rightly so, is that it would make more sense for nationality not to be a factor in determining who goes to the World Cup. Whether you end up with 4 Burmese refs and no Spanish or the other way around, they would all get in on their ability only.

You only have to make sure you have enough represented nationalities so you don't get Webb officiating an England match, and even then, they're professionals so patriotism shouldn't be a factor in, but that's peripheral.

Don't get your panties in a bunch.what's up Eyal? been a few days since we've had our customary difference of opinion ...

I understand the idea that you pick the best refs regardless of nationality, while ensuring enough variety to not have the conflict of interest problem ... but the World Cup is not set up like that: qualifying teams are apportioned by region/confederation; same goes for the officials (who are all obviously FIFA tested and certified to be of the highest level) ... fairly simple, and I think both understandable and necessary ...

The referee was bad for both sides today but his lack of judgement for I. Coast fouls was, for lack of a better word, daunting.

But it comes down to this:

Let's assume a ref's ability is quantifiable and is rated out of a 100. Let's assume there are 50 FIFA-certified refs who meet the minimum requirements and standards, which for the purpose of this point is 80/100, any of whom are qualified to officiate in the WC. I don't know any hard numbers for this, so let's continue assuming, and say that these refs come from 30 different nationalities/federations, and there are 20 spots in the tournament. If Country A has 20 refs represented, all of whom rate 95 or above, for whatever reasons. The other 30 refs, from 29 nationalities, all range between 80 and 100, with most of them being in the 80s. The way FIFA works would mean that you're guaranteed to have several refs in the tournie, who score lower than their counterparts, but feature anyway, which essentially means a lower standard of refereeing.

You can say that so long as they meet the minimum requirements, it doesn't matter, but it does, just like you can have your meal cooked by someone who makes you an OK dish or an amazing dish, both of which are good enough to be served.

I know, this is a hypothetical that takes a lot of liberties, but this is the point we're trying to make. The World Cup should have the highest standard of officiating possible, and I'd rather have that than diversity. I mean, the refs nationalities was one of the first filters. Out of all the English managers who meet the standards, Webb was selected, and the same goes for every nation.

I appreciate what they're trying to do, but considering that I just want to watch some good football, I don't support it.

^ I understand what you're saying; but I think you're missing the point of the World Cup ... look at the teams that compete: if it was just 32 of the best teams, how many spots do you think will be filled by countries outside Europe? a handful at most, including Brazil and Argentina ...

North Korea v Brazil may see the Koreans make a fight of it, but it will never equal the potential spectacle that could have been seen if, say, Hiddink's Russia made it instead, and faced Brazil ... but that's the World Cup for you ... Europe has a higher percentage of representation, but other regions are apportioned spots so that they are represented too ...

with officials, a similar principle has been applied ... exposing refs from various regions who have made it to the elite level will give officiating a chance to grow in those various areas too ...

Let's assume a ref's ability is quantifiable and is rated out of a 100. Let's assume there are 50 FIFA-certified refs who meet the minimum requirements and standards, which for the purpose of this point is 80/100, any of whom are qualified to officiate in the WC. I don't know any hard numbers for this, so let's continue assuming, and say that these refs come from 30 different nationalities/federations, and there are 20 spots in the tournament. If Country A has 20 refs represented, all of whom rate 95 or above, for whatever reasons. The other 30 refs, from 29 nationalities, all range between 80 and 100, with most of them being in the 80s. The way FIFA works would mean that you're guaranteed to have several refs in the tournie, who score lower than their counterparts, but feature anyway, which essentially means a lower standard of refereeing.


The other big problem in this discussion (alongside with what Xifio just mentioned) is quantifiability. Measuring the performance of a referee must be something really difficult. Any kind of conceivable controlled test would be a gross simplification of the multiple complications and possibilities that happen in a real game. Comparing reports and data from the referees' performances on their local leagues is not any easier, given that football culture (and thus refereeing standards) vary so much from country to country. I would not be surprised if the referees from Seychelles, Mali, etc. score as high as their European counterparts on the FIFA evaluations, as many important issues (experience on big games, sensibility to avoid letting the match get too heated...) probably evade most attempts at testing.

That's why I said let's assume it was quantifiable. But even though it's not, you can still compare referees and rate them on certain aspects of their job.

And I get the idea behind the World Cup, but like I said, I want to watch the best matches possible, and I wouldn't mind having a global qualification process instead, so the very best play. I'm not saying there is anything fundamentally wrong with the tournament, but it could be better, from my point of view.

This is the World Cup. Every continent must be represented in this tournament. Every team plays qualifiers to get there (well, except the host(s)), so there's no point to whine about not watching some nations. They missed the finals on their own.

The only thing I can complain about (and I am) is the selection of the referees. I accept the idea that the referee can't be from one of the nations competing in the respective match, but I can't accept a crappy refereeing from a guy from Guatemala (nothing personal with Batres; he was the first that popped up in my mind) just because a way better ref can't referee the match because a team from the same continent plays in the match. I don't think referees would be biased towards a team that is not from the same continent as them.

with officials, a similar principle has been applied ... exposing refs from various regions who have made it to the elite level will give officiating a chance to grow in those various areas too ...

I get that the similar principle has been applied, but it shouldn't be. The only time that anyone cares about the refs is when they royally **** up. If getting the best officials in the world means 90% are from Western Europe, so be it.

Isn't this World Cup starting to become one of the dirtiest considering cards? How many yellow/red cards were handed out at the dirtiest World Cup ever so far? If I remember it right, the dirtiest was Italy 90' or am I mixing it up with another?

Every team plays qualifiers to get there (well, except the host(s)), so there's no point to whine about not watching some nations. They missed the finals on their own.

Actully, teams can unfairly miss out on the chance to get to the World Cup due to poor refs. One good example, and a recent one, is the France - Republic of Ireland playoff and Henry's almighty hand. That bastard should've paid a huge fine and gotten banned from the World Cup.

Actully, teams can unfairly miss out on the chance to get to the World Cup due to poor refs. One good example, and a recent one, is the France - Republic of Ireland playoff and Henry's almighty hand. That bastard should've paid a huge fine and gotten banned from the World Cup.

Agreed. So what's FIFA's action instead? They select him (Martin Hansson) to referee the 2010 world cup.

Agreed. So what's FIFA's action instead? They select him (Martin Hansson) to referee the 2010 world cup.

EXCATLY! Thank goodness however that he hasn't become the main referee in any game so far. I hope it stays that way.

I get that the similar principle has been applied, but it shouldn't be. The only time that anyone cares about the refs is when they royally **** up. If getting the best officials in the world means 90% are from Western Europe, so be it.working on the assumption that the refs in the big leagues are the best ones isn't very prudent ... like I said before, there are countless big errors in big matches in all the big leagues too ... Drogba was offside against Man Yoo in a match that had big consequences as far as the English league was concerned; and in the same match, at the other end of the pitch, Macheda scored a handball goal ... Chelsea benefitted then, and they enjoyed it; but ask them about a certain Champions League semifinal ref call Tom, and they'll tell you how much of "disgrace" he was ... the verifiability of refs and their capacities is the problem area ... until that is somehow sorted, I don't think there is any way anyone can generalize that a ref's country of origin has any correlation to his/her ability ...



Actully, teams can unfairly miss out on the chance to get to the World Cup due to poor refs. One good example, and a recent one, is the France - Republic of Ireland playoff and Henry's almighty hand. That bastard should've paid a huge fine and gotten banned from the World Cup.Agreed. So what's FIFA's action instead? They select him (Martin Hansson) to referee the 2010 world cup.more officiating eyes might have caught that ... incorporating technology (somehow) certainly would have ...

you guys maybe be right.

what i said might not have been nice, but i just cant seem to understand the hatred
towards the united states.

the people of the usa are not the government, which also mean we may not necessarily
agree w/ what the government does.

so why take it out on the people, respect for my nation should be given, what i had said previously was truth that some dont want to understand.

even though it was quoted as being disrespectful, its real.

it would be like me saying germans are trash because of hitler & the 3rd riech, something almost 100 years ago.

& i respect germans, even though i never agreed w/ hitler's point of view.

dont take what i say personally, as if its meant to be taken in a foul manner.

im just looking for an answer as to why america & americans are so highly disrespected by countries all around the world.

so sorry for any hurt feelings as that wasnt the point of my post.

im just looking for an answer as to why america & americans are so highly disrespected by countries all around the world.


That can be easily answered: your foreign policy. (H)

the people of the usa are not the government, which also mean we may not necessarily agree w/ what the government does.well, if the govt is elected by the people, then it is a govt that is representative of the wishes of the people, and their actions, by extension, condoned -- at least that is how people from other countries when the US is proclaimed as the pinnacle of democracy ... now, if you think that people from other countries have the wrong idea coz they don't know how it is here, then I would question how you think you know how it is everywhere else (and what others think of the US) ... I'd venture to suggest you haven't traversed the globe much?

This guy should come out of retirement and show today's sh*tty refs how it's done:
http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/14984.gif

Sounds like Blatter is opening up discussions yet again for the possibility of technology brought into the game to help the referees. I'd personally want referees at the penalty box, it'd be much more easier and quicker than goal cameras.

Nah, refferees always can make mistakes, or worst, bad calls on favour of big teams.

I think that will be better that each team can call a review of a play on each period, i mean, goals and penalties, so referees can overrun plays or get burned under his own decissions.

Villa's goal offside?

It's really disgusting how FIFA is trying to rewrite history by writing the following match reports for the England-Germany and Argentina-Mexico matches on their website:

Impressive Germany power past England
...
Meetings between these two sides often provide talking points and this one's came 60 seconds later when Lampard's shot from the edge of the box struck the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, with the referee ruling the ball had not crossed the goalline.
...
That's it? "The referee ruling the ball had not crossed the goalline"?


Tevez shines as Argentina oust Mexico
...
Tevez might have thought his chance had gone when Perez raced out to block bravely at his feet, but Messi was quick-witted enough to return the ball towards goal, where the Manchester City striker was waiting to head home. Breaking the deadlock enabled Argentina to take a firm grip on proceedings, and within seven minutes that hold was strengthened as Mexico reached for the self-destruct button.
...

Not even a mention of the most obvious offside decision not noticed by the officials..

8|

Apparently Lampard's shot isn't even in the official video highlight reel on the FIFA site either :D

Argentina, Germany, Spain... good thing Brazil can get it done on their own...

Italian referee Roberto Rosetti who failed to disallow Carlos Tévez offside goal against Mexico, as well as the Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda who allowed play to carry on After Frank Lampard put the ball over the line in England's match with Germany have been sent home.

Also Koman Coulibaly from Mali, the man who disallowed a legitimate US goal against Slovenia and Frenchman Stephane Lannoy who gave Brazilian Kaká a second yellow card in the Ivory Coast match have been told to pack their bags and get the #@%!$ outta here.

I would've forced each of those refs to take a mandatory 10-day vacation in the country they screwed over.

Villa's goal offside?

Yes, according to a newspaper it was 22 cm offside :skip_e:

Yes, according to a newspaper it was 22 cm offside :skip_e:

That's really close and I bet it's more of a 50/50 from a linesman's point of view. I'm more concerned with the incredibly obvious decisions that have gone wrong..

Wasn't really a bad decision either. I mean I needed about 5-6 replays to see it.

I would've forced each of those refs to take a mandatory 10-day vacation in the country they screwed over.

England were not screwed on Lampard's goal. The linesman had to be in line with the last player to determine if he was offside or not. He was in line and the result is that he couldn't monitor the goal line.

FIFA's decision to reject goal-line technology is what cost Lampard that goal.

I think Rosetti is a good ref in general. Don't think he's to blame for the Tevez goal, either.

He did fine, he just didn't have the balls to reverse the call after the replay was shown.

I dont think he's even allowed to do that. Playing things by the book, he has to make a decision based on what he and his linemen saw, not on video evidence. That, at least for now, goes against the laws of this sport.

True, though he is allowed to change his mind until he blows his whistle for a restart.
I don't think many refs would have done things differently.

Police Refuse to Look at Surveillance Video of Sepp Blatter Getting Stabbed

Johannesburg Police officials say they will not look at surveillance video taken of the scene where FIFA president Sepp Blatter was stabbed this morning.

"We had officers near the scene of the attack, and if they didn't see anything, that's the best we can do," said Johannesburg Police chief Abraham Kefentse. "I think human error is meant to be part of investigating crimes. It has always been that way."

http://www.sportspickle.com/article:1030/police-refuse-to-look-at-surveillance-video-of-sepp-blatter-getting-stabbed

(H)

^^ Great stuff!! (Y)

It was always said that it was going to take a big event in order to bring back the discussion of video technology... who new it was going to happen in this world cup after to botched calls.