The Fan

New rules set to launch red card spree

The Editor — Tue, June 6th 2006

Refereeing standards to be in the spotlight

After the variable quality of refereeing performances in previous World Cups, it is important for the referees of the opening 2 games on Friday to set a sensible precedent for the rest of the tornament.

Fifa’s head of refereeing José-Maria Garcia Aranda does not seem to have calmed the situation by demanding that the officials ‘proactively’ referee games. The old cliche that a good referee is one you do not notice could not be truer, or it seems, further from Aranda’s mind.

World Cup referees have been ordered to send off players who “lunge” at opponents, a decree that is likely to set off a raging debate over exactly what the term entails.

From: Guardian

 

Vague guidelines such as this and the current offside rule could threaten to spoil the competition. Dubious decisions in the last tornament saw Italy and Spain defeated and the job of the referee is hard enough without ill thought-out rules.

The Guardian article lists the level of caution a player should receive for certain offences. Some look potentially too harsh, but I feel FIFA must start introducing red cards for ‘simulation’ (diving). It is this form of blatant cheating that I would prefer to see eradicated, rather than the occasional miss-timed foul.

Listed in: Competitions, World Cup

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