Couple of questions

[Rufus]

HS basketball official here with a couple of questions:

1. Has there ever been discussion about having more than one official on field? A soccer pitch is such a large expanse of territory that it would seem difficult to cover on-ball action with correct angles, let alone off-ball action. Basketball's played on a much smaller area and we've got three officials who have the same authority to make calls and are constantly adjusting to get angles. Was just curious if this is a nothing-burger or something more difficult to deal with.
2. Has there ever been any kind of anti-flopping rule considered? In basketball (at least in HS) we can call a technical for that kind of thing in an effort to discourage the behavior. Has anything similar been considered? Is it as big a deal as non-soccer folks make it out to be? Is this only a problem (if indeed it is one) at the higher professional levels?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Rufus

HS basketball official here with a couple of questions:

1. Has there ever been discussion about having more than one official on field? A soccer pitch is such a large expanse of territory that it would seem difficult to cover on-ball action with correct angles, let alone off-ball action. Basketball's played on a much smaller area and we've got three officials who have the same authority to make calls and are constantly adjusting to get angles. Was just curious if this is a nothing-burger or something more difficult to deal with.
2. Has there ever been any kind of anti-flopping rule considered? In basketball (at least in HS) we can call a technical for that kind of thing in an effort to discourage the behavior. Has anything similar been considered? Is it as big a deal as non-soccer folks make it out to be? Is this only a problem (if indeed it is one) at the higher professional levels?

Thanks in advance.

Good questions Rufus! I'll try to answer the best I can, using both NFHS and USSF rule sets, with a little FIFA thrown in.

1. I'm sure there has been, but that's above my pay grade. Here is what I do know. There are two systems of "control" under NFHS rules/mechanics. There is a "dual" system that only has two referees. The referees generally stay on the field with the offside line, and move up and down the field with the players, à la basketball. The other system of control is the "diagonal" system. It consists of three referees: one Center Referee (CR), and two Assistant Referees (ARs). The Assistant Referee's #1 priority is staying with the second-to-last defender and judging offside.

USSF and FIFA both use the three referee system, and do not allow for the dual system.

I'm sure there has been discussion of adding more Center Referees, but that is not the direction that FIFA has been taking. Right now there is a kind of administrative struggle at FIFA about how to improve refereeing. You have some administrators (Michel Platini for example) wanting more referees to help out, where as old-school guys like Sep Blatter prefer just three officials (and a fourth for subs/taking care of coaches/other administrative duties).

Platini is also an administrator for UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations. They have started employing two extra officials during their prestigious Champions League matches. They take other Center Referees from the crew's home country, give them training and a new title (Additional Assistant Referee), and put them next to the goal watching the Penalty Area. These Additional Assistant Referees have primary responsibility of determining if the ball has crossed the goal line (remember Goal Line Technology is pretty new), and secondary responsibility for helping out on fouls in the Penalty Area, misconduct the referee cannot see (like Luis Suarez biting the Italian guy for example), and who last touched the ball for in/out of bounds plays. They use current Center Referees because they have very good foul recognition and are able to help out on corner kicks and breakaways into the Penalty Area where the Center Referee may be 30 yards away. They do not currently use the AAR system at the International level, which is why you didn't see them at the World Cup. Only UEFA has them right now.

With the addition of Additional Assistant Referees, the number of crew rises to 6 -- Center Referees, 2 Assistant Referees, 2 Additional Assistant Referees, and the Fourth Official.

Another thing that greatly helps these crews -- even at the 3 referee level, is the advent of on-field radios. When crews are able to have active discussion about things they need to watch it really improves game management and foul recognition. Assistant Referees can now comment on plays outside their normal flagging area and help the Center Referee on incidents behind his back or which he has a poor angle. As always, the more eyes the better.

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of Aditional Assistant Referees, check out this Sky Sports Master Class special (download might be better than stream) with UEFA referee committee member Pierluigi Collina. It's a fascinating watch.

2. Yes there are anti-flopping rules. I searched the USSF Laws of the Game as well as the Advice to Referees (the USSF casebook) but could not find anything related to diving, flopping, simulation, or punishment for such.

The FIFA Laws of the Game on the other hand do have such a rule. Law 12 outlines Fouls and Misconduct and under the section dealing with cautions (yellow cards) for Unsporting Behaviour says "attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)".

So, if the referee is sure that a player is being deceptive to gain an advantage, he is free to issue sanctions for such behavior. Unfortunately it is very hard to determine when a player is faking an injury or foul and referees have to be extra vigilant to see the play properly before issuing a discipline.

Post-match review is another thing FIFA execs are fighting about. MLS currently has a post-match review system (their Disciplinary Committee or DisCo) where yellow and red cards can be upgraded and downgraded based on video review. Because the USSF Laws do not have discipline for flopping or simulation, those aspects of the game are not reviewable.

Flopping and simulation will continue to be a blight on the game until some kind of post-match review (likely) or real-time replay (very unlikely) become prevalent from International play on down.

[Rufus]

Thanks AremRed for the comprehensive and informative answer. I suspected that both had been discussed but it's nice to have that confirmed.