NOVEMBER 2014 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 11 Welcome to this twelfth edition of The Referee, the newsletter for all NSW State League Football Referees. This newsletter will enable our branch to communicate directly with our members and will cover issues and areas of interest to all referees. We wish to ensure that all information, educational resources and opportunities that our branch provides for referees finds its way to those who are likely to benefit most and that s you! If you wish to contribute to future editions of this newsletter, please send articles of interest, your comments and refereeing questions to newsletter@nswfootballreferees.com.au Richard Baker NSWSLFR TSC Member and Newsletter Editor Be calm, composed and polite, yet firm remember that the players opinions are often valid and they do speak the truth a lot of the time. Carefully separate out genuine complaints and treat those respectfully, but for dissent or frivolous gripes or blatant lies then use the management tools available to you to deal with offenders. Primarily players want to play, see justice done and match control maintained, so where possible allow this and give the players the opportunity to prove they can be treated respectfully, only changing approach if they prove the opposite.
The Laws of the Game states that the technical area is defined as designated seating for all technical staff and substitutes. While the size and position of technical areas may differ between clubs, the following notes are issued for general guidance: The technical area extends 1m on either side of the designated seated area and extends forward up to a distance of 1 m from the touch line. Make sure when you do your pitch inspection that the Technical Area has enough seats to accommodate the number of persons permitted to sit in the Technical Area which is 9 for FNSW Competitions. It is recommended that markings are used to define this area. MANAGING OCCUPANTS IN THE TECHNICAL AREA It is preferable that solid lines are used to clearly define this zone; however, where no line marking equipment is available consider the use of cones to define this area. If no technical area is provided then an incident report is required. The number of persons permitted to occupy the technical area is defined by the competition rules. The occupants of the technical area are identified before the beginning of the match in accordance with the competition rules. Break the ice by introducing yourself to the coaches prior to the game. Carrying out the equipment check in a suitable location will give you a clear idea of who may be in the Technical Area. State your expectations and hold the coach or other occupants responsible. The number of substitutes is stipulated by the rules of competition. Remember substitutes may leave the technical area to warm up. They must, however, warm up behind Assistant Referee 1. Only one person at a time is authorised to convey tactical instructions from the Technical Area. On-going coaching is NOT permitted, that is when an occupant in the Technical area provides continuous commentary of what he/she wants from their players. Tactical instructions are those that provide the team with clear instructions and purpose for game play. A coach s role on game day is to observe and analyse the game and make adjustments or improvements to the quality of football of his or her side. To this end, a coach may offer advice to his/her players to either exploit a weakness in the opposition or to enhance a strength of his/her team. Only one person is able to stand in the technical area (in general terms that person will most likely be the coach). Once this person delivers his/her instructions they may stand anywhere within the technical zone including on the line itself. Other members must not stand with the person delivering the instructions. All other occupants such as club officials and substitutes must be seated. Refer to picture above for an illustration of this directive. 2
The coach and other officials must remain within its confines except in special circumstances, for example, a physiotherapist or trainer entering the field of play, with the referee s permission, to assess an injured player. The coach and other occupants of the technical area must behave in a responsible manner. It is up to the referee, assistant referee or fourth official (if present) to try and keep the emotions of the benches in check and prevent disparaging remarks being aimed at the referee or his/her decisions. Therefore your approach to managing the technical area should be proactive and positive. If you have official Assistant Referees and or a Fourth Official, as the referee you must cover thoroughly how to deal with occupants in the technical area in your pre-match instructions. AR1 and or the fourth official have the power to deal with incidents in this area as a member of your team.. A trainer/physiotherapist etc. should not be sent from the Technical Area in case of injury to a player. However, if they behave irresponsibly then a report must be sent to FNSW and the secretary. If their behaviour is totally unacceptable then the referee should inform the coach or the team manager that should this behaviour continue then the game will be abandoned and a report will be sent to FNSW. The referee should take ownership of the issues that arise in the Technical Area (listen for comments from the bench area so that you don t put the entire burden either on the Assistant Referee and or fourth official). When play has stopped, communicate with the coach to avoid an escalation of a situation. Avoid prolonged interaction and your communication to occupants in the Technical Area must be distinct and to the point. The referee should have a plan to handle the technical area without overreacting and the following should assist in effective management: - Try to use your presence when dealing with unruly bench personnel. - Use your personality and sometime a well-placed smile can diffuse a difficult situation. - Find the peacemaker on the bench to help and communicate your intention. - If you need to dismiss a person from the Technical area identify that person directly and remove to the club rooms or the grand stand. Avoid asking them to jump over the fence as this person has an audience and will continue to give you a difficult time. Borrowed and adapted from FFV Referees Manager Chris Bambridge March 2012 3
QUICK QUIZ A thorough understanding of the Laws of the Game is an essential quality of a good referee. All referees should regularly review their Laws of the Game book to ensure they are correctly interpreting and applying the LOTG. Following are some questions to test yourself on how well you know the laws. Choose the BEST answer. Answers are at the end of the newsletter. 1. A player lunges at an opponent from the side using one leg with excessive force, endangering the safety of the opponent. What should the referee judge this action to be? Dangerous play. Unacceptable, but allow advantage as the player being tackled has kept control of the ball and might be able to clear it to a team mate. Serious foul play Unsporting behaviour. 2. At the taking of a dropped ball a player kicks it directly into their opponent s goal. What decision should the referee make? The referee awards the goal. The referee disallows the goal awards a goal kick. The referee disallows the goal awards a corner kick. The referee disallows the goal and restarts play with a dropped ball. 3. A substitute, warming up behind the team s goal, sees that his team is in danger of conceding a goal. He enters the field of play and stops the goal being scored by kicking the ball away. What decision should the referee make? Stop play, caution the substitute and restart play with a dropped ball to be taken from where the ball was located when the match was stopped. Stop play, send off the substitute and restart play with an indirect free kick against the substitute s team, to be taken from where the ball was located when the match was stopped. Stop play, send off the substitute and restart play with a penalty kick against the substitute s team. Stop play, caution the substitute and restart play with an indirect free kick against the substitute s team, to be taken from where the ball was located when the match was stopped. 4. A throw-in was not taken correctly but the ball goes directly to an opponent. Can the referee apply advantage and allow play to continue? Yes, always. No, the referee must stop play, caution the thrower and award a new throw-in to the opposing team. No, the referee must stop play and order the throw-in to be retaken. No, the referee must award a new throw-in to the opposing team. 5. When is a player not penalised for being in an offside position if he receives the ball from a team mate? As long as he is in the opponent s half of the field of play. Whenever he receives the ball directly from a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick. He is penalised in all cases. As long as he is not interfering with play. 4
VARY WHISTLE TONE IN ORDER TO DENOTE THE SEVERITY OF THE OFFENCE The style of whistle for any given free kick can be used to indicate how bad the challenge is and also set the players expectations about what is going to happen next, which may prevent a confrontation as the players will know you have recognised the severity of the foul. A careless foul will just need a short blast of the whistle, whereas a reckless or very reckless challenge needs a louder, longer blast increasing with the recklessness of the challenge. After a long, loud blast following a reckless challenge for which the offender is subsequently cautioned, there is likely to be less response or argument from other players as you ve already communicated early, just via the style of whistle, that a caution was likely. For challenges using excessive force then the strong whistle will need to be followed up if there is a danger that the player offended against or their teammates are going to react. FOUR RED CARDS & 16 YELLOW CARDS IN ONE SINGLE GAME Russian Referee Valentin Ivanov set a new record for the number of red cards issued in a World Cup match with four, and tied the record for yellow cards with 16 in this 2006 World Cup soccer match. Take a look at the video clip and see what you think. Was it a nasty game, was every card justified? Take a look at the video and see what happened: http://youtu.be/5kns7wotxek 5
WAS THE IMAGE OF THE GAME PROTECTED? The Key Performance Indicators that many are assessed by are: 1. Did the referee protect player safety by correctly interpreting and applying the laws? 2. Was the image of the game protected? 3. Did the referee deal with dissent appropriately? 4. Was offside interpreted correctly? Watch the video clip on a KPI2 situation and see if you feel that the image of the game was protected by the referee s actions or not. Check it out here: http://gdfra.org.au/kpi2 melee.avi IMPORTANT DATES ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - Friday 5th December, 2014-7.30pm Start QUIZ Answers 1 - C, 2 - B, 3 - D, 4 - D, 5 - Newsletter layout designed by Kelly Jones 6