BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

You Are The Ref - the final

You Are The Ref
29 Jun 08, 10:30 AM

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?

Thanks to Chester_Rd_Parade_Cancelled for this question.

We will bring you Keith Hackett's answer after the final of Euro 2008.

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1. At 10:53am on 29 Jun 2008, thomasd21 wrote:
If you feel that the assistant is not performing as he should, ie there is some improper conduct, or there is undue interference from him, then you can relieve him of his duties and get the 4th or 5th official (reserve assistant) on.

The over-ruling by the referee is not very realistic as most referees will say to their assistants before the game that all offsides are theirs and the referee will not get involved unless the assistant is on the floor and incapable of seeing the event etc.

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2. At 12:39pm on 29 Jun 2008, Ibu2000 wrote:
The ref should replace the linesman

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3. At 12:41pm on 29 Jun 2008, Walrus wrote:
No1 is right.
The ref can choose to replace a linesman if he needs to...he can send them off if he wants to!

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20061203/ai_n16890096

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4. At 12:43pm on 29 Jun 2008, craigrussell123 wrote:
Clearly, the most obvious solution to this scenario is to replace the linesman with Jimmy Hill.

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5. At 1:01pm on 29 Jun 2008, red_est_1892 wrote:
craigrussell123, genius mate.

As a number of the above posts explain the ref should replace the linesman if he is unhappy with his performance. But the likely hood of this is very minimal, although i understand they have a hard job, football officials never admit their mistakes. A bit like wenger they never seem to see the bad decsions

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6. At 1:08pm on 29 Jun 2008, gmancfc wrote:
Replace with the 4th official.

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7. At 1:23pm on 29 Jun 2008, nouthotspam wrote:
if you have the same bet on as the lino leave him on if otherwise replace him.

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8. At 1:23pm on 29 Jun 2008, Geordie Owl (formerly Geordie-Owl)
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9. At 1:36pm on 29 Jun 2008, darlo_tom_5 wrote:
If I felt the linesman was making these decisions on purpose I would insist he was replaced by the 4th official and report him after the game.

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10. At 1:44pm on 29 Jun 2008, locohero wrote:
ask the linesman how much he's getting and ask for a cut.

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11. At 2:14pm on 29 Jun 2008, Scholes-a-goal wrote:
If I myself was the Ref then it would be obvious what i would do. I would replace the linesman because he is in his own world of off-side and on-side.

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12. At 2:16pm on 29 Jun 2008, Mu Beta - Gets annoyed when his h2g2 nickname is used on 606 wrote:
"At half-time you are fortunate enough to see footage of several clear goalscoring opportunities that were ruled out by your assistant"

Is this permitted? I thought many referees went out of their way to avoid watching replay footage and prejudicing themselves until after the game.

I don't know if there's anything in the Referees' Code of Conduct about it.

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13. At 2:25pm on 29 Jun 2008, Mongkap
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14. At 2:37pm on 29 Jun 2008, bcfcblock17 wrote:
Tricky... but everyone has a bad game? just so happens this is in the final.

I do not believe the English game allows for a "video viewing" at half-time.... but a referee would sense if on or offside - but wouldn't 100% certain.

If at half time - this was impacting on my match control - then the guy would be removed...

The question is posed as the final of Euro 2008 - and the flag would be passed to the 5th official ? who is a specialist Assistant referee as FIFA recognised this as being a different skill set to that of a referee.

Premier league ? I remember a 4th official (senior referee one of the select guys) at Middlesboro ? came on for an injured Assistant referee and he was shocking?

Pass the flag to the 5th official...

keep right on

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15. At 2:40pm on 29 Jun 2008, Gunner-Daniel wrote:
Either replace him with a different official or force him to wear stilts.

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16. At 3:32pm on 29 Jun 2008, ojohnnyboy
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17. At 3:55pm on 29 Jun 2008, MUFC_A_L_L wrote:
Replace the linesman with the fourth official. Pretty easy one for the final.

It would be funny if that happens tonight!!

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18. At 4:05pm on 29 Jun 2008, stonao
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19. At 4:08pm on 29 Jun 2008, stonao wrote:
failing that, #13's idea should become the standard procedure and be used on this awful official.

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20. At 4:10pm on 29 Jun 2008, U6810887 wrote:
I would replace the linesman with the 4th official.

My own scenario:

Carlos Puyol plays a through ball for David Villa who is contesting for the ball with Metzelder. However, the linesman signals offside and both players fail to make contact with the ball. The ball rolls through to the penalty area where Lehamnn bends down to pick it up but lets it in.
Does the goal stand?

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21. At 4:11pm on 29 Jun 2008, SnoopDonnyDog wrote:
Replace the linesman, probably with the fourth official. Not likely to happen in Euro 2008, but might be necessary on a Sunday park pitch. Trouble is, there wouldn't be a fourth official there.

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22. At 4:17pm on 29 Jun 2008, HappyHammer73 wrote:
you replace him and he goes in the middle. that will make the match much more fun !

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23. At 4:19pm on 29 Jun 2008, Lawman wrote:
Law 6 "In the event of undue interference or improper conduct, the referee will relieve an assistant referee of his duties and make a report to the appropriate authorities"

And that is what I'd do.

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24. At 4:23pm on 29 Jun 2008, PhilSandifer
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25. At 4:23pm on 29 Jun 2008, alanjj wrote:
If the linesman is consistently ruling in favour of Scotlnad in the Euro 2008 final that's OK and to be applauded. In the real world ask him for the phone number of Mr William Hill.

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26. At 4:31pm on 29 Jun 2008, PhilSandifer wrote:
/blink

Odd bit of comment removal there.

OK. I'll try again. Clearly the linesman needs to be relieved.

But in this hypothetical situation, there's a larger problem. 65 minutes of the match have gone, and it is clear that there was an attempt at match fixing within those 65 minutes. Should the match be abandoned?

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27. At 4:38pm on 29 Jun 2008, AlexCook25 wrote:
This happens when I play all the time - they're called club linesman!

I think there's a bigger issue than just replacing the linesman - as if you do that, you're suggesting he wasn't doing his job for the first 65 minutes of the game, or however long.

So in this situation - I think as the referee you do nothing and let UEFA/FIFA decide what to do with the linesman, result and whatever else there is!

You may wish to put your suspicions in the match report, but to take any action there and then is just making a rod for your own back!

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28. At 4:38pm on 29 Jun 2008, Mu Beta - Gets annoyed when his h2g2 nickname is used on 606 wrote:
I think you'd be jumping to an awfully big assumption to accuse anyone of match-fixing. And abandonment would be tantamount to that.

Put it in the match report and let UEFA decide.

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29. At 4:54pm on 29 Jun 2008, scotchollie wrote:
Send him to Specasvers.

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30. At 4:57pm on 29 Jun 2008, thecourgettefarmer wrote:
Isn't it obvious? Ask him if he's match-fixingn and if he is, make sure you receive at least 50% of his fee for your silence on the matter.

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31. At 4:57pm on 29 Jun 2008, alanjj wrote:
What or who are Specasvers?

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32. At 5:16pm on 29 Jun 2008, gunner_04 wrote:
what if the refree is in on it too. Who is to overule him??? Surley if it is being done on purpose its fixing a match and a lifetime ban!!!

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33. At 5:34pm on 29 Jun 2008, HumourZoNe wrote:
I would walk up to the assistant and ask him what the deal is? If its a good one i would BLACKMAIL him and demand 50/50 profits. He has no choice but to accept, and we both walk away after the game with a bit more in the bank for our childrens futures. After all it is just a game of football.

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34. At 5:35pm on 29 Jun 2008, Brooking_is_GOD wrote:
The real question is how did Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger disguise themselves to become linesmen and change places at halftime?

One of them sees everything and the other sees nothing.

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35. At 5:49pm on 29 Jun 2008, bluewobbler1 wrote:
i think weve had that linesman at our game

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36. At 5:52pm on 29 Jun 2008, Jaziri wrote:
The referee has the power to get rid of his assistants at any time with a valid reason. You may relieve him of his duties at any point in the match and as quite rightly pointed out several times, give the flag to the 4th official and if need be, the 5th official.

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37. At 6:03pm on 29 Jun 2008, saudipete wrote:
The linesman clearly cannot be blamed for being incompetant as who actually knows what offside is at the moment anyway.

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38. At 6:09pm on 29 Jun 2008, rajalingam wrote:
Give him the red card too. send him off.

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39. At 6:35pm on 29 Jun 2008, nononomebusy wrote:
As the main official in charge of the game if I felt that any of the other officials was not performing his job properly then it is my right to dismiss this official.

This wouldn't be a decision taken lightly. The linesman may well believe the desicions he has taken are correct. However, where there is clear indication that more than two of his decisions are incorrect, it is definately acceptable to dismiss the linesman.

It is safe to get a second opinion on this in case the mistakes in the first half are clouding my judgement. I would ask the fourth official if he agreed and if he does then there is no question that the linesman be dismissed. If there is a difference in opinion I would continue the game until a clear mistake is made.

At the end of the game, whether or not I dismissed the linesman it would definately be mentioned in the full report of the game for officials to look into and decide whether or not my decision was correct.

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40. At 6:52pm on 29 Jun 2008, e-i-l-r-a-h-c wrote:
This is not just any football match but the final of Euro 2008 so the linesman is known to be one of the best in the business. It doesnt look like a case of him having a bad game - either he is deliberately trying to influence the result - which will be the end of his career - or he may have had some form of attack which has affected his judgement - in either case he needs to be replaced. BUT there is a third possibility - you may have had some form of attack that was affecting your judgement and he is right all the time - in which case you need to be replaced. Fortunately you are in radio contact with the 4th official and can ask his opinion before deciding whether to dismiss the linesman or declare yourself unfit to continue.

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41. At 7:28pm on 29 Jun 2008, Vlad_all_over
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