After watching Chelsea's game last night, I started to think that it's about time that the football authorities both helped and protected their referees. Sure they make mistakes but who wouldn't? The game has become so tactical that some managers start the mind games with referees before a ball is kicked. How can we be critical of referees when they are judging cheats? Cheats, by nature, get away with things....by criticising the referees and not unilaterally criticising the players, aren't we making a rod for our own back? So is it time to introduce new technologies and new rules to stop these cheats in their tracks? What about the following: 1) Only captains can approach the referee. Anyone else get's cautioned. Similar to Rugby. 2) Run a extra time clock that starts after 10 seconds (or whatever) to just stop time wasting in its tracks. 3) Give the ref the option of video support to aide their decisions.....perhaps give team captains one or two appeals to overturn decisions 4) Retrospective punishment, regardless of if the referees sees it. Video evidence can be very damning and players need to realise that if they cheat, they face several games out. What else should be considered? What shouldn't be touched to preserve the game....after all, some of the uncertainty actually adds to the game....but it is time to stop the cheats in their tracks?
i like the rugby citig system. club affected can cite a player. independent citing officer reviews whole game can cite someone.... panel reviews all and doles out punishments. iting officer could be an ex ref so they can stop working for the press and work in football instead. but my main improvement would be a life ban for mourinho cos every antic they did was classic him and we saw the same at real, inter etc etc... how he can say "they lost thier heads" after traiingthem to do it all..... i dunno....
I guarantee that if you start handing out big bans for cheating in football, 90% of what we see today will be gone in a year
I think this is the classical clash of cultures. When I was watching Sky yesterday, I noticed how Souness was so vociferous in condemning the crowding of the referee. He said that he had worked in other countries and that this was common and that foreign players brought this into the English game over the the years (he said British). Interestingly Henry stayed quiet about it and never mentioned the word "cheating" . It is not the first time he's said that. What is deemed cheating here in England is deemed not only acceptable in Latin and other countries but praiseworthy in getting an advantage for your team. In Italy, Spain, Brazil or Argentina, if a striker gets a dubious pen by sticking his own leg out. He is praised by all pundits and media for his skill. And I agree with others here: Blatter and other FAs will never accept our concept of cheating.
Football is in the Dark Ages as far as on-pitch etiquette and use of assistive technology go. The higher-ups don't want them and their claims that such technologies aren't sophisticated enough are baseless as they have been successfully introduced in many other sports. Other sports have also been quick to adopt and also pioneer these schemes and devices as a means to making their matches fair, to help officials and hinder gamesmanship and outright cheating. The fact that such behaviours are rife in football is also in part down to the kind of individual the game attracts. Football is a magnet for unsavoury and classless characters unfortunately, not that these kind of people don't end up as professionals in other sports, it's just that there are disproportionately more of them playing football. This is both an economic and demographic issue.
I'd like to see referees microphoned up so we can hear what they're saying as well as what the players are saying. This would possibly stop players trying to influence the referees with retrospective punishment for anyone seen to be doing so and it would let everyone know why a referee has made a decision too.
If you've been involved in something its very hard not to get involved in the discussion with the ref. If the referees have a mic then it doesn't matter who speaks to him so long as its done it the right manner. You could say the captain and the player involved as a compromise.
Incidents like last nights one, can never be stamped out until the game embraces off field video technology. From the angle the ref is looking at he sees Zlatan sliding in and then the contorted 'agony' on the face of Oscar combined with the obligatory overstated roll. It reminded me of the Rodwell / Suarez incident of a few years back. A referee could never punish Oscar for simulation even if he subsequently didn't take action against Zlatan. However, if players know these incidents are going to be instantly reviewed, then they'll rapidly disappear from the game, as there'll be no advantage to be gained.
If the referee see that appropriate, I'd agree. Ultimately, it's about stopping cheating/influencing.....let the ref actually ref not try to second guess based on the reaction/comments of other players.......we can't continually knock them for their performances when there are 22 cheats on the pitch......and a few off it!!
I agree. Players even simulate when actually fouled....anything to make it look worse. Video technology would hold them more accountable and if found guilty of cheating.....call it cheating and ban them for 5 games plus. This will eradicate the behaviour. Easier said than done though!
You'll never stamp out cheating 100%. Players will always go down easier than they should or claim a throw-in / corner when they know they got the last touch. Its the blatant diving that annoys me, the ones where there is either no contact at all or they stick their leg out forcing the contact, these are the ones that should be punished and I'd suggest a ten game ban for the first offence and increase it by five for each reoccurring offence. Clubs and managers won't like it and they'd soon stamp down on their players as a result. Putting microphones on the referees will make games more transparent. If everyone can hear what is going off then everyone knows why a referee makes a decision, this helps viewers accept the decision. We would also see players not act as ****ish since everyone would be able to hear them. Again, bans could be applied for anyone not falling in line. Respect for officials and authorities needs to be implemented before action can be taken for other things such as diving.
Thing is both challenges were identical. It was never a red card but either both get sent off or both stay in the field. If Ibra joined Oscar in the simulation of beung hurt then I bet he doesn't get sent off. The fact he apologized for the tackle made him look worse because you only do that if the challenge was nasty.
Play acting is equally annoying. Maybe players should being sidelined; two minutes off the pitch for every roll you perform! If they'd seriously hurt then they'll be substituted anyway.
No, it'll never be stamped out. It isn't in any other sport but unlike football, they have control over it. For footy, it's spiraling out of control badly.
