Premiership referee Phil Dowd has caused controversy with his recent sending-offs, particularly his dismissal of Tottenham skipper, Robbie Keane, in their 3-2 defeat by Birmingham City. It wasn’t the actual sending off that caused people to talk, although there were those, especially Tottenham fans, who felt it was a harsh decision, warranting only a yellow card instead of a red.
The onus, of course, is on the referee to judge the difference between the two. They have to be, the Law says, ‘committed in a manner considered by the referee to be reckless (yellow card) or using excessive force (red card).
Referees are told 'reckless' means that the player acts with complete disregard of the danger or consequences for his opponent.
'Using excessive force' means that the player has far exceeded the force necessary and is in danger of injuring his opponent. But it’s all in the eye of the beholder, in other words, the referee who has to make the decision.
However, this is not why the actions of Phil Dowd were called into question, but I have to say that the doubts expressed, were by commentators, managers, players, and fans. None of them understand the secret communications that referees employ, to try and ensure that any incident doesn’t escalate.
As Phil Dowd beckoned to Robbie Keane to pull him away from the fracas, he was seen to talk into the microphone, which all Premiership referees now have taped to their face, apparently to his fourth official. After a few words he then pulled the red card out of his pocket and sent Keane from the field of play.
What the dissenters have suggested is that Dowd was taking advice from his fourth official about the tackle. In the Laws of the Game, the fourth official is required to bring to the referee’s attention, any violent conduct that is committed out of the referee’s view. This happened at the last World cup when the French captain Zidane headbutted the Italian player Materazi behind the referee’s back.
But of course this was not the case here.
The referee could not have been better placed, only a few yards away looking into the tackle and in any case it was serious foul play, not violent conduct. So what was Dowd saying to his fourth official? Dowd’s explanation was that he was making the fourth official aware that it was the red card about to be shown, so that he could be prepared for any trouble that this might give rise to on the touchline. This in fact is what all Premiership referees are expected to do.
The PMGO, which controls Premiership referees, confirmed that Dowd had informed the fourth official of the action he would be taking, in order to aid management of the technical area. ‘This is one of the reasons,’ it continued, ‘why referees, assistant referees, and fourth official are “miked up” in order to improve the management of these types of situations.’
But this is not something new and goes back before mikes were introduced. Referees have always had secret signals to alert the fourth official what was about to happen. I remember some years ago, being told by a Premiership referee, that he kept his red card in his right hand trouser pocket and his yellow card in the left. In his pre-match instructions, he told the fourth official to keep an eye on him any time he called a player to him and was obviously going to take some form of disciplinary action. If he saw him going to his right hand pocket, this gave the fourth official a little extra time to get prepared for any likely trouble from the dugouts.
It’s a pity that people who don’t know what they are talking about, should seek to make insinuations about a referee carrying out recognised refereeing management techniques.
Dick Sawdon Smith
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© R Sawdon Smith 2007