THE REFEREEING PROBLEM SOLVED!

    On April 11, I posted a blog about an apparent crack in the edifice of the referee program in Chicago.  One of the “Powerful Pentad”, Joe Machnik, had suggested a way to solve the problem of ineffective refereeing in Major League Soccer.  The “crack” was that at last someone responsible for the state of refereeing in this country would admit that there was something wrong. 
    Joe’s idea was to recruit some retired professional players, fast-track them through referee-training and then employ them in MLS.  Well, it has started!  The first part of the education was study of the Laws of the Game, and what is acceptable refereeing practice throughout the world.  The second was to take them to a game and ask for their observations, so that the instructors could be assured that the players learned something.  Here are the comments on a recent World Cup match as one of the retired professional players saw it.

    Marcelo Balboa played more than 150 games in MLS, and represented the U.S. as a defender in three consecutive World Cups in the 1990s.  When offered the opportunity of refereeing, he couldn’t resist the chance to share his expertise, and tell referees where they have been going wrong.  He’s been doing that for some time as an analyst for ESPN.
    The match was U.S.A. versus Ghana, and the instructors knew that this would be a good test for Balboa, since he would have to put aside his chauvinism, and call it objectively.  Could he do it?
The referee was Marcus Merck of Germany, and he established his presence in the fifth minute when he cautioned Essien of Ghana for a foul.  Balboa disagreed with the decision saying it was “…too early for a card for that kind of foul.”  Now that’s a new piece of information from the laws, that there are only certain times in a game that you can issue a caution.  But to be fair to Balboa, I haven’t refereed since 1992 and maybe FIFA has changed things recently.
    But a couple of minutes later, our fledgling referee showed that he has a clear grasp of the purpose of disciplinary action taken by a referee.  Eddie Lewis of the U.S. was cautioned for a deliberate handball.  Balboa protested the decision because “…that yellow card can change the way you play!”  Duh!
    By eleven minutes into the game, Marcelo was really getting into the swing of things, and he began to refer back to the U.S.A./Italy game, pointing out to anyone who would listen that the red cards in that game were wrong.  It had been his opinion that the referee should have been sent home, but by the time of this U.S./Ghana game, FIFA had rewarded those “wrong” decisions by giving the official another game.  Fancy that!
    In the nineteenth minute, Donovan was penalized for being offside  and interfering with play, but Balboa saw it differently.  Perhaps he hadn’t heard his instructors define when a forward, leaning well past the defender, was considered to be nearer the goal-line than the last-but-one opponent was.  Offside can be tricky, Marcelo, but Joe can find a way to teach you to catch up!
    At 32 minutes into the match, Balboa brought all his years of experience into his decision-making as he commented on a yellow card shown to a Ghanaian whose elbow hit his opponent’s face: “That’s not a yellow card!  You are allowed to put your arms out to protect yourself.”

    Enough already!  You get the picture, and I’m not comfortable using a whole blog on nothing but sarcasm.  Suffice it to say that Marcelo Balboa failed this assessment, and would needs lots of work before he was fit to referee.  His comments were based upon the laws and the actions of referees from the time when he still played, more than a decade ago.  The game is changing, Marcelo, and you have to change with it.  In fact, all referees (and commentators) do.  FIFA wants to change the way the game is played, and the referees are the agents by which those changes will be wrought.
    When the idea of using ex-professional players as referees came out years and years ago, it seemed like a good one.  But around the world, there are very few such referees, and I am bound to wonder whether the scheme has ever worked or would work here.  We’ve not done very well training referees for the top-level as it is, let alone trying to turn pro players into Collinas on a fast track.

Comments

[Nathan Lacy]

Well said, Bob. I shudder to think what affect "commentators" like Balboa are having on our already shakey international image.

[Chuck Fleischer]

Thanks Bob, too bad we are faced with writing about the wonderfulness of our commentators. Here the microphones surrounding the fields collect the player's voices and crowd noise for us to hear. The commentators sometimes remain silent for five minutes and let us watch, listen and enjoy. Das Leben ist wunderbar

[PAT SMITH]

THE ONLY PLYER OF NOTE THAT I CAN RECALL TRYING HIS HAND AT REFEREEING AFTER HE GOT HURT PLAYING WAS A MAN CALLED ROY SWINBURN WHO PLAYED FOR THE WOLVES IN THE LATE 40S HE NEVER MADE IT THE BIG LEAGUES BUT DID SHOW PROMISE. AFTER WATCHING THE PORTUGAL NETHERLAND GAME I WAS TOTALLY DISGUSTED AT BOTH TEAMS. IN MY 70 YEARS OF INVOLVEMET IN THIS GAME I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH STUPIDITY> I FELI IT ALL STARTED ON THE NEEDLESS FOUL ON RONALDO WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAL WITH BY A RED CARD< WHEN THE PLAYER ONLY GOT A YELLOW FOR DESTROYING THAT YOUNG MAN RETRIBUTION WAS THE ORDER OF THE DAY BY PORTUGAL. THE HEAD BUTT SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED A RED CARD ALSO.THE REFERE ONLY HAD LIMITED OPTIONS,HE COULD HAD CALLED OFF THE GAME WHICH WASNT POSSIBLE AT THAT LEVEL AND LET BLATTER DEAL WITH IT, HE COULD HAVE TALKED TO THE PLAYERS WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN WASTED AIR. KEEP ON DOING WHAT HE WAS DOING.OR DO NOTHING,WITH THE ATMOSPHERE THAT EXISTED IN THAT GAME I DOUBT ANY REFEREE COULD HAVE CHANGED THE CLIMATE

[Babu]

Mr. Smith...I could not agree more with you. The foul in the 7th min. on Cristiano Ronaldo was indeed a send-off and red card.....it was only the start of a bad day for Mr. Ivanov. The studs-into-the shoulder/chest challenge on the Dutch player should have also been a send-off and a penalty kick. I noticed that Ivanov also missed a serious foul when he turned toward the technical areas in order to wave on an injured player.
Bravo, Mr. Smith.........

[Aaron Corman]

Looks like you and I share a common affinity for the wisdom of Marcelo Balboa's commentary. As you well know, a high level player does not necessarily become a high level referee. I could go on, but I think your post was right on the money. Cheers.

[John Parkyn]

I'm curious... What's changed in the past decade?