Doesn't it all seem a long time
ago? I'm referring to the World Cup in Korea and Japan. We looked forward to it for ages and the excitement was intense at the
time, St George's flags were everywhere but now it seems like a distant
memory. It would be different of course if England had won, after all we still
talk about 1966. Nevertheless I'm sure we all have our own recollections.
As a referee, one small odd incident sticks out in my mind. In an early game, Danny
Mills the England full back ran against an opponent's comer flag post. In doing
so he pulled the flag post out of the ground and then arrogantly threw it away.
The Laws say that there must be comer flagposts so the referee refused to
allow play to be continued until it had been replaced. But who was going to do
it? The referee insisted that Mills, like a naughty schoolboy, go and pick it up and
put it back in its hole. And quite right too.
Knowing my interest, many people asked me during the tournament what I
thought of the refereeing. I replied honestly that I thought it was generally
excellent. There were some arguable decisions but overall I believe the referees
got it right.
What seemed to attract the most criticism though was the actions of some
assistant referees. Questions were raised whether they were all up to the job. At
previous tournaments, officials for the World Cup were selected from the top
referees. They would take turns in refereeing and running the line. This was not
thought to be the best solution as lining is almost an art in itself. I know
personally that after refereeing for many years, when I started to run the
line again I made simple errors. I remember a top referee who after being
selected to run the line at the FA Cup Final took some lining appointments on
his local league to get back into the swing.
For this tournament FIFA decided to appoint assistant referees who run the
line regularly. Phil Sharp who is an assistant referee on the Premiership was
England's representative for example. He of course acquitted himself excellently,
being selected to line at the Germany/Brazil final.
However, the FIFA culture of
spreading the honours widely by selecting referees and assistants from as many
nations as possible is thought by some to be a problem. Although the assistant
referees selected were probably the best from their particular country, in the
case of the smaller nations they have less opportunity to officiate at many top
level games. When it came to the pressure of the World Cup
finals they may have been a little out of their depth.
The most high profile mistake perhaps was in the Korea/Spain quarter
final. You may recall that the assistant referee flagged that the ball had gone over the
line before it was crossed into the Korean goalmouth where the Spanish forward
headed it into the goal. Television showed clearly that the ball had not gone out
of play.
This incident was one of those that led to many people calling for video
replays to be used when there are contentious decisions. However, if you watch
the play back carefully you will realise that the referee blew his whistle on the
raising of the assistant's flag. Hearing the whistle the Korean goalkeeper just
stood still and made no attempt to save the ball. Therefore, even if the referee
had been able to consult the replay, it wouldn't have been fair to award a goal.
I don't foresee that instant video replays will be used at the next World Cup
but I'm sure FIFA will be reviewing the method of selection of assistant referees
for future tournaments.
Dick Sawdon Smith