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Tag: Referees

  • Referees are now in the office, not pitch – Mourinho

    Referees are now in the office, not pitch – Mourinho

    Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho on Thursday questioned the point of having referees on the pitch, saying VAR was bad for the game.

    His comments came after his side were victims of a controversially disallowed equaliser in a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United in the 2019/2020 English Premier League (EPL).

    Harry Kane thought he had levelled for Spurs almost immediately after Sander Berge had given the hosts the lead in their EPL clash at Bramall Lane.

    But VAR officials at their bunker in Stockley Park ruled that Lucas Moura had used his arm in the build-up.

    This was in spite of the Brazilian being shoved over and then having the ball booted against him while sliding headlong on the turf.

    A pundit, Jamie Redknapp, described the decision as one of the worst he had seen and called for common sense.

    Mourinho looked furious at the time but the Portuguese coach refused to turn his ire on referee Chris Kavanagh.

    “I think the referee should always be the man on the pitch and the man in the office should support and assist,” Mourinho said of the incident. “But that’s not the way that it is.

    “Especially a referee who’s not very good on the pitch, we can’t expect him to be very good in the office. `

    “We’re going into a direction that is very bad for a game which was the game that everyone fell in love with.

    “Normally I am an emotional guy on the bench. But, in this moment, I never complain with the man with the whistle because he’s not the referee anymore.

    “I used to go to the fourth (official). But the man on the pitch is the assistant referee and today the man and the lady with the flag, (who) used to be the assistant referees, are now assistant’s assistant. The ref is in the office.”

    Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has been a critic of VAR and felt wronged when his side had a goal ruled out in their 1-1 draw at Tottenham in November.

    He felt Mourinho’s angst.

    “I’ve got a back catalogue of decisions that have gone against us. We’re the unofficial champs of Europe with decisions against us,” he said. “I think it’s a nonsense rule.

    “I totally understand the frustration of their (Tottenham’s) manager and players. We’ve had the rub of the green tonight on that one, well overdue. But we’ll take it.”

    Mourinho, whose side slipped to ninth, nine points adrift of the top four, questioned his side’s reaction to the decision to chalk off Kane’s goal.

    “We have to do better, we have to be mentally stronger to cope with what happened during the game,” he said.

    “It was a kick in the teeth but with 50 minutes to go, we have to be stronger. I don’t think we were strong enough mentally.”

  • Infantino urges EPL referees to use VAR monitors

    FIFA president Gianni Infantino described referees as “heroes” and urged Premier League officials to start using pitch-side monitors before making key decisions involving VAR.

    Infantino told Sky Sports News on Friday, that he was unaware Premier League referees have not been making the final call on VAR decisions.

    The FIFA chief lauded the “difficult” work of referees on the pitch but encouraged them to “accept the help” of pitch-side monitors to enable them to play a more active role in the VAR process.

    “The job of the referee is so difficult, these guys are heroes, we are all criticising them so let’s help them and they have to accept the help.

    “They have a safety net when they are not sure or when somebody who sees the images telling them to go and check. They should go and check.”

    Despite VAR’s controversial start in the Premier League, Infantino says the system is helping football and as the technology improves, so too will the game.

    “VAR is making [football] more just and clean and if we have to wait one minute or two minutes, we have a game-changing decision which is taken correctly instead of wrongly.

    “Of course, VAR will improve, will develop, and will have automatised offsides because that’s what technology will give us today or tomorrow.

    “Offside and handball are these two situations which we need to constantly analyse and see how we can and if we can, these are difficult topics.”

     

  • Italian referees association received parcels filled with bullets – Nicchi

    Italian referees association received parcels filled with bullets – Nicchi

    Italian referees association (AIA) president Marcello Nicchi says parcels filled with bullets have been sent to him and other members of the body.

    Nicchi disclosed this on Thursday that the packages had been sent to him, the AIA’s vice president Narciso Pisacreta and referee selector Nicola Rizzoli.

    The development comes amid supporter protests over the use of video assistant referees (VAR), introduced in Serie A this season with mixed results.

    Nicchi also denounced a journalist who suggested fans “should shoot the referees” and added that police and Italy’s Interior Ministry are investigating the incidents.

    Last month, hundreds of angry Lazio fans showed up outside the Italian football federation’s offices in Rome to protest decisions by VAR.

    Flyers handed out during the protest claimed the club had lost five games because of VAR decisions and had won other games where “incredible mistakes” were made.

    VAR is also being used in German’s Bundesliga, Major League Soccer in the USA and has been trialled in the latter stages of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup as well as England internationals.

    The system will also be used in this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.

    Sky Sports

  • Russia 2018: FIFA names 36 referees, 63 assistants for World Cup

    Felix Brych of Germany, who officiated last season’s UEFA Champions League final match between Real Madrid and Juventus, is among 36 referees named on Thursday for the 2018 World Cup.

    World football ruling body FIFA said in a statement that its Referees Commission has also picked 63 assistant referees, with the 99 match officials representing 46 countries.

    Brych has also officiated games at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.

    They were selected from 53 referee trios in a three-year process through preparatory seminars and “based on each referee’s skills and personality’’.

    “The Commission also put into consideration each referee’s level of understanding of football and ability to read both the game and the various tactics employed by teams,’’ FIFA said

    It said Europe is providing the most number of referees with 10 and also the most number of assistants with 20.

    But, for the first time, there is no World Cup referee from England.

    There is also none from Nigeria.

    FIFA, however, said another seminar has been scheduled for the last weeks of April in Italy to further prepare the referees.

    “It will also include candidates to act as video assistant referee (VAR), with the technology making its debut at the June 14 to July 15 tournament in Russia.

    “A final seminar for all officials will then start in Moscow 10 days before the first match,’’ FIFA said.