BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

You Are The Ref answer

You Are The Ref
29 Jun 08, 11:17 PM

Here's a reminder of our Euro 2008 final question:

You Are The Ref

Question
It is the final of Euro 2008. You are the ref and your assistant referee is having a TERRIBLE game.

Every time the ball is played forward in his half he flags for offside. He makes two or three decisions that you can clearly see are wrong and you overrule him, allowing play to continue.

At half-time you are fortunate enough to see footage of several clear goalscoring opportunities that were ruled out by your assistant. You have a word with him and he assures you he is fit and well and, from where he was standing, the players appeared to be clearly offside.

In the second half the scenario is reversed - the assistant's flag stays down for 20 minutes and a goal is scored when the player looked offside to you, but you couldn't be sure.

After overruling the assistant for the second time on a CLEAR decision, you are faced with the possibility he may be getting these decisions wrong, not by accident but on purpose.

You have stopped play for offside. The managers and the players of both teams are understandably angry, but not doing anything that warrants action from you.

One team is asking for the assistant to be removed, the other is berating you for constantly overruling him.

What would you do?

Keith Hackett's answer
This is another good question but not possible in the Premier League because the officials do not have access to replayed television footage of the first half in their dressing rooms.

However, if this was the case and the referee believes his assistant referee was affecting his overall performance and the result of the game, then he would dispense with his services.

The referee would not abandon the game. At Euro 2008 each game has a fifth official and it is likely he would take over running the line.

In this scenario in the Premier League the fourth official would probably replace the assistant referee, with the problem then being who would take over the fourth official's duties.

It would be unwise to ask the assistant to assume the fourth official role because then he could attract unnecessary comments and/or abuse from the dug-outs.

The referee would have created another problem which could have been avoided. So it would be wiser if he dispenses with the assistant completely.

There's often a qualified referee in the crowd who could take over the fourth official's duties, or the assessor if present, or even a willing volunteer.

I can remember a First Division game in September 1972 between Arsenal and Liverpool that ended in a goalless draw when there was no fourth official and TV pundit Jimmy Hill ran the line.

After the game the referee would write a report and let the governing body controlling the game (Uefa in the case of Euro 2008) decide what action to take depending on what was in the report.

The governing body would decide whether to allow the result to stand or order the game to be replayed. There might also be other measures which they may wish to take.

The assistant would be immediately withdrawn from any further appointments until the investigation is complete. If there was any suspicion of corruption then the matter would be investigated by the police.

If found guilty the official's career would be over.

If the referee had the problem with a club assistant referee on a park pitch - some club assistants are too biased - then he would dispense with his services and ask the club for another assistant.

If there wasn't one available, the referee would officiate from a position that would keep him close enough to that particular touchline to see if the ball goes out of play.

Also, the referee would have to be in a position to be able to judge offside when required. He would need to do a lot of running!

Thanks to Chester_Rd_Parade_Cancelled for this question.

Many thanks for all your suggestions and comments over the last few weeks. We will have a final Euro 2008 You Are The Ref next week, so if you have any further scenarios please submit them using the comments below. We reserve the right to modify any we select.

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Comments

1. At 00:01am on 30 Jun 2008, youngdov wrote:
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
2. At 00:11am on 30 Jun 2008, Bortron wrote:
Here's a scenario I've wondered about over the last couple of years: a player scores a goal, and celebrates by removing his shirt. However, underneath this shirt is a second shirt, identical to the shirt he's removed, with correct name and number and conforming to all the relevant laws. Would the referee be forced to apply the letter of the law absolutely and book the player, or would he be able to use his discretion and realise that the removal of the shirt revealed nothing whatsoever?

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3. At 00:13am on 30 Jun 2008, Bortron wrote:
Further to my submission, would this removal of the shirt even contravene the law/directive as it's given?

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4. At 02:55am on 30 Jun 2008, Drunken-Hobo wrote:
Here is a scenario I've been wondering about since the missile-throwing incidents in the League Cup semi-final between Dundee United and Aberdeen at Tynecastle:
Appologies for the cliché but it's the final few minutes of an important Scottish Cup game when, unseen by any officials, a coin is thrown at the goalkeeper, striking him on the back of the head. Instead of going down in a fit of agony, the keeper, now in full view of the assistant referee, decides to turn round and mouth off to the crowd, making offensive gestures and using foul language towards the opposition fans. Seeing that the goalkeeper is now facing the other direction, an opposing player hits the ball from all of 60 yards into essentially an open goal, the ball hitting the net before any action is taken by the referee.
The striker automatically assumes it is a legitamite goal and proceeds to celebrate at the other end of the pitch. Now realising what has happened, the goalkeeper protests that this could not possibly be a goal as a forign object had entered the field of play. Although no officials saw the coin throwing incident, there is a £2 coin lying in the six yard box which has obviously been launched onto the pitch.

Does the goal stand, or is it ruled out as the goalkeeper was clearly hindered by it's arrival on the pitch and what action does the referee take against the goalkeeper for reacting in an inappropriate, but somewhat justifiable fasion?

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5. At 08:24am on 30 Jun 2008, stonao wrote:
well, you remove the awful linesman from the game, replacing him with the 4th official (bout time he done something useful), and sending the linesman to the changing room where he can no longer influence the game. following the events, you have a word with him in the changing room as to why you removed him. then include it in your report that the official may have had a biased opinion towards one team. and if UEFA or FIFA pull their fingers out, they should investigate and find a suitable punishment rather than listening to complaints from Manchester Utd that they believe that their player is being tapped up, yet request that their past of tapping up players is kept off the record. its stupid, surely there are more important things happening in the football world other than C.Ronaldo's future at either Man Utd or Real Madrid, such as Luton Town's current problems.

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6. At 08:26am on 30 Jun 2008, bcfcblock17 wrote:
The context of this question was the Euro 2008 final -

Surely the 5th Official would be used - FIFA have stated the different skill sets - by have specific Asst Ref's..

And the availablity of the 5th official was demostrated last night - as 5 collected their medals last night.

Understand the points of the premier league made above...

Can the BBC provide some clarification to this matter?

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7. At 11:58am on 30 Jun 2008, BlueStarIT wrote:
bcfcblock17 - post #6

Clarification is not needed if you read ALL of Keith Hackett's answer.

May I refer you to his third paragraph where he states:

'At Euro 2008 each game has a fifth official and it is likely he would take over running the line'.

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8. At 12:16pm on 30 Jun 2008, BluestarMagic wrote:
Just a quick note to say thanks for this feature BBC, Trevillion and Keith Hackett.

Kept a few of us busy over Euro tourny and hopefully can be repeated over the season.

Cheers

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9. At 10:41am on 01 Jul 2008, guunercesc wrote:
Ive always wondered what action thte ref can take for this senario:

In a local derby match, for example Liverpool and Everton, a midfielder, Alonso, goes down with an injury, sportingly Everton kick the ball out of play so that he can recive treatment. when play is resumed instead of returning the ball to Everton, liverpool go on the attack and score.

What, if anything can the ref do? Is it unsporting behavior?
Can he bring play back to the throw in?

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10. At 10:55pm on 01 Jul 2008, sexyjk wrote:
9. it would stand as a goal as it's not written in the laws that the ball must be returned.

It happened once in an FA cup tie with Arsenal i think it was scoring a goal from the ball bein put out because of injury.

The game was replayed if i remember rightly because of the uproar it caused

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