...that coach surprises you. Basically was just told a story by a fellow referee who ran as AR for a soccer match. I don't want to give specific details since I am getting this second hand, but there is a point to this story.
Basically a team we'll just call Red, is on the attack and Blue is defending. Ball sails over to the Blue keeper which should be easy to pick up, which he does. Red is on full momentum, with slight hopes of getting the ball before the keeper. Keeper has the ball in hands, and then as the Red forward runs by, the keeper throws an elbow to the Red forward hitting him in the mouth.
The center referee decides to be nice and award a penalty and give the keeper a yellow card. Red converts a goal as a result and it's the only goal of the match. Awfully nice of the referee to give a PK and a yellow card.
The coach of the Blue team saw the AR offsite the next day by just chance and the coach said he suspended the keeper for 6 games and the school is reviewing the incident to see if he can be pulled from the team. Basically the coach finished the referee's job for him.
Now one may read this and say, "Justice is served." And I agree, it was. However, it was the referee's responsibility to administer the justice to being with. Deliberate elbows in the mouth are serious and need to be taken as such. Had the referee given the red card with the PK like he should have, maybe the coach wouldn't have felt inclined to take action on his own.
What is the point of the story? Am I giving kudos to the coach? Yes, I do give the kudos to the coach for trying to make a slightly correct much more politically correct that if I stepped in the middle, did my best and called a fair game, I would be confident he wouldn't give me too much grief for my efforts. However, the referee thought he was doing the keeper a favor by not sending the player off, and now instead of nature taking its course with a red card suspension, and have a chance of returning to the game, he now risks losing out the entire season. And it's his last year in the league.
We have heard of stories where the MLS has stepped in when an incident happens out of the referee's view (or worse in the referee's view) and dole out their harsh punishment even if the referee didn't issue a red card.
In summary, things can happen due to referees calling stuff such as a PK and a Red card. A team gets a goal most likely and a player gets suspended. However, you do nothing because you are trying to be nice then you may think you are avoiding a bad situation, where in contrast, you made a bad situation worse.
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GC, I read this post a couple of days back.
Most coaches cannot afford to take a talented player out of the lineup because of a head case.
Courage is that high level referee trait this is often hard to find - from me too (I hate doing that Send Off report paperwork).
Thanks for the post on my picture of my newly acquired state badge. Should get to use it in Fremont after the New Year on Association Cup.
Hope to see you there.
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