One of the things that many new referees find difficult is the recognition of unfair challenges, or perhaps I might more correctly phrase it, as recognising the difference between fair and unfair tackles.
It is something I know that also confuses many players and supporters, One tackle can look very much like another, with the opponent falling to the ground and yet one is penalised and the other is not. One new referee, asking for some advice on the subject a few weeks ago said to me, 'I give a free kick for what I think is an unfair tackle but then the player turns on me and shouts 'I played the ball' and I have to admit, that he is probably right'.
It's not just new referees who are subjected to similar demands from players, you can see it at the very top of the game. Even if you can't hear what the players are saying you can understand their body language as they manipulate their hands in the shape of a ball after the referee's whistle.
Radio and television commentators often react to this by inferring that the referee has made a mistake. This is because there is a common fallacy that if the player gets the ball at a challenge, then he cannot have committed an offence. The fact that a player plays the ball, is not a true test of whether the tackle is fair or not. I've told the tale before how I wrote an article in a referee magazine, describing how I judged when a tackle should be penalised and in the following close season the International FA Board rewrote the law using my description.
Coincidence or not, how the law now defines when a challenge becomes an offence is, 'when a player, tackling an opponent to gain possession of the ball, makes contact with the opponent before touching the ball'. This is what so often happens - the player makes contact with his opponent on the way to the ball. In many cases, the only way to get to the ball, is by 'playing through' the opponent's legs.
To other players, spectators and coaches on the line, the prior contact may not have been seen but they will react to the player's claim that he has played the ball. If the referee is in the right position, he will see that the bodily contact was made first. All very simple you may think but what sometimes clouds the issue is that, even after a fair tackle, an opponent may fall heavily to the ground, or even be injured. A player can make a perfectly fair tackle, that is to say playing the ball before the opponent, who then goes over his outstretched legs.
The other shout that players often confront referees with, after being penalised for tackles that went wrong, is that they - 'went for the ball'. In other words they intended to play the ball, but for various reasons, usually the opponent being too quick for them, they brought him down. They feel that this should absolve them from blame. The law on tackles is no longer interested in intent - only results. If the player makes contact he must be penalised intentional or not.
There is one other complication that referees have to bear in mind. A player can play the ball first but still commit an offence. This is when the player clearly plays the ball with one foot but then follows through with the other foot or leg, bringing the opponent down. This often happens when the challenge is made from behind.
It sounds so simple on paper but as new referees find out very quickly, spotting the differences is no always so easy, when you are the one who has to make the decision
Dick
Sawdon Smith