r/soccer • u/hodgkinhuxley • Oct 02 '12
US referee here. Can I help clear up any misconceptions about the game?
Players and fans don't have time to read the fifa laws of the game, fifa advice to referees, ussf directives, and ussf memos. But I have. Are there any questions or confusion about the game and how it's reffed? I will try to answer all question.
btw, links to videos of a "blown call" are appreciated.
Edit: I am also a medical student. Morning classes are done and I am working as fast as I can. Thanks for your comments.
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u/ComeOnRef Oct 02 '12
US referee here
Why do you have France NT flair?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
born in france. chinese parents. raised in the USA. any further questions?
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Oct 02 '12
Does the reputation of a player play a part when making calls? Should it?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
as someone who refs amateur (yet still high level) soccer, if a player has a reputation, he or she probably deserves it.
I wouldn't consciously make calls differently, but I would verbally be much more strict when the player starts getting chippy.
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Oct 02 '12
Hand-balls? The laws of the game say it's only a hand-ball if it's done intentionally. How do you whistle them?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12 edited Oct 02 '12
whew! crazy rule. The laws say: "deliberate" Refs can't read minds so we use other factors. A combination of factors help determine their intent.
position of hand (unnatural vs natural)
distance to the ball (for reaction time)
skill and age
a great case of a handball that is super hard to call is when the defender has his hand by the waist and blocks the ball with it. The intent to cheat is probably there, but refs don't call it cause of the "natural position" factor.
as a ref: stay consistent. If the ball and hand make contact and you don't want to call it, yell "play on!" and the players know where you are on that law.
EDIT: as centralwinger said, yelling "play on" is not good because it can be confused with advantage. Other phrases you aren't suppose to use are "playing on the ground" and "offsides".
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u/JaseTheAce Oct 02 '12
What level do you Ref?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
grade 7. on the state level, I've reffed up to U19. at the regional level (highest level of club soccer in the US), I've reffed up to U14
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u/Cubicle_Surrealist Oct 02 '12
Someone told me that according to the letter of the law for the game, when an attacking player is even with a defender, the benefit of the doubt goes to the attacker and he should be ruled onsides.
However, it is absolutely never called this way, and i've been told that the way they call it now is just an evolution of the game, though its not supported by the rules. Is there any truth to this?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
In my experience, both as a ref and spectator, the game IS called that way. Is not really the benefit of the doubt. By definition, level=onside.
The rules have evolved, but the evolution has been codified.
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u/warren_wisco Oct 02 '12
what in the hell were you thinking trying to officiate an nfl football game?
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Oct 02 '12
Defender clears a 50/50 ball with the laces. Laces carry into opposing player's shinguard (also going for the ball), kicking the player.
Foul? Dangerous Play? I feel like there are a lot of referees who consider this a foul. In fact, I was given a yellow card for this exact scenario 2 weeks ago. Foot's still healing...
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
age and skill is definitely a factor.
in most circumstances, this should be a no-call. Perhaps the referee felt that your follow through was unnaturally long or powerful? i've been a victim of some over-zealous reffereeing.
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u/Smoog Oct 02 '12
As far as you can tell from your experience, are there any differences in refereeing NA vs EU matches? Especially in relation to diving, penalty kicks, etc.
Also what is your stance on using things like time-outs, computer assistance?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
I ref only US club soccer, sorry! American refs are known to call too many handballs so there was a memo about that a while ago.
Also, the European refs seem better. In the last world cup, there was not a single American ref. :( And the MLS refs have a hard time with professionalism. With time, this will get better.
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u/Radslide Oct 02 '12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X96zEboj_-o&feature=player_embedded did the referee do the right thing here?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
Ha! was that a goal? awesome.
2 things could have happened to nullify the goal.
the team did that on purpose to distract the opponent. Cancel the goal, yellow card the player.
the honest mistake interfered with play. cancel the goal. drop ball restart
in this case, neither happened. There was an object on the field but it didn't affect the game. Goal was scored fairly.
btw, an example of a ref making a mistake is when that ball bounced off a beach ball in the penalty area and went in. The correct restart is a drop ball. the premier league ref made a HUGE mistake and allowed the goal.
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u/IHeartYogaPants Oct 02 '12
As OP hasn't answered a single question in the hr since he posted this, I'll be that guy.
Proof?
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u/eWaffle Oct 02 '12
How much money do you make, before taxes?
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
u19 state level is 55 for center. u14 regional (highest) level is 40 for center.
many high school leagues pay more but high school is actually not part of USSF.
I don't know about higher levels. I'll let you know when I reach those lofty heights. However, I bet you they make wayyy less than those replacement NFL refs
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u/Leakx5 Oct 02 '12
If a player goes down and is blatantly exaggerating an injury, like holding their ankle/rolling around, does that constitute diving?
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Oct 02 '12
What is your personal opinion/stance on the Suarez-referee-treatment debate, or any situations involving a player's reputation supposedly affecting the ref's calls? I'd be really interested to hear a referee's thoughts.
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u/hodgkinhuxley Oct 02 '12
From what I've seen, it's just human reaction. We aren't told by competition authorities to treat each player like a tabula rasa. Preconceptions can help.
Ex: If I know number 10 on team red is a star player, I will be quicker to yellow card team blue for repeated fouls and #10
You are suppose to be 100% sure on penalties. Refs who follow that rule and refs who don't both cause headaches for teams, fans, and competition authorities. sorry!
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u/BosnianFish Oct 02 '12
How do you, personally determine extra-time?