Quote:
Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle
I thought seriously about officiating soccer a couple years ago. In the end I decided against it. While toying with the idea I did study up a little about some of the officiating systems used. But I never got to try them, so I'm probably arguing from ignorance here. But with four officials on the game it sure seems like there is a lot those other three guys could do besides just watching for offsides, calling OOB, and taking care of subs. Give the linesmen a whistle and put them to work watching off ball. Better yet, give them primary (or shared with the center referee) responsibility in their "vertical third" of the field. I know it flies in the face of soccer tradition, but if we can call a better game with three officials in basketball, by dividing coverage, putting eyes off the ball, and allowing all three officials to make the judgment calls in their area...there is no way it couldn't help in soccer.
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First of all, they are not linesmen, they are assistant referees. As an AR, we CAN AND MUST call fouls (technically, we signal to the center referee that we have observed a foul, but at higher levels an ARs flag for such foul calls is seldom "knocked down" -- i.e. ignored).
Due to the size of a soccer field, the two-man system is a very poor one. Many of the "problems" develop in soccer games in the midfield and in the "dark corners" (opposite side of the field occupied by the two referees). It is very difficult for referees in a two-man system to get good coverage in the midfield or in the dark corners.
The biggest challenge with any multiple whistle systems is the concept of the "Advantage" provision -- something I wish we actually had in basketball. As soon as a whistle blows, play stops -- thus taking away any possibility of allowing the team to "play through" a foul. It is typically much easier for the center referee to ascertain whether to apply "Advantage" to a particular play due to his/her angle on the play.
Tennis uses SEVEN linesmen/umpires/referees to cover a match between two players. Granted, there are many situations involving points being awarded that lead to the need for the large number of eyes on the court.
At the same time, I can see the logic of using up to SEVEN total referees in soccer.
1. A single center referee,
2. One assistant referee on each goal line (one on each side of the goal in top games with a video camera over top of the goal in top level matches) who would ONLY make goal kicks/corner kicks calls,
3. One assistant referee in the traditional positions for the purpose of calling the offside line, balls out of touch in their quadrant (there actually ARE primary areas of coverage in soccer's diagonal system) and signalling for fouls in their quadrant,
4. One assistant referee in the opposite quadrants from the traditional assistant referee positions -- these ARs would NOT be responsible for the offside line (covered by the opposite traditional AR) nor for the goal line (called by the goal line AR), but would be responsible for calling the ball out of touch (out of bounds) and signal foul calls in his/her quadrant.
These last two assistant referees would significantly decrease the rough play in the "dark corners" of the soccer field. These are the corners OPPOSITE the side of the ARs. Due to a lack of help from the AR in these two quadrants, the center referee is primarily responsible for coverage in these quadrants. When rapid transitions occur, the center referee may be 40 - 60 yards behind the play. If the ball is played to the ARs side, the AR can identify foul calls. Unfortunately, if the ball is played to the opposite side, the center referee has a difficult time covering this play.
I would add a second AR for each goal line in the highest level games (World Cup, EPL, MLS -- OK, a LITTLE STRETCH). This would leave a total of seven or nine referees in total. This would not be dramatically different than baseball which has an umpire behind the plate responsible for making most of the calls, but adding three to five additional umpires for the higer level games.
This would maintain the "consistency" and the application of the "advantage" situations that today's single center referees manage. At the same time, this would give the center far more help on out-of play calls allowing the center referee to focus more attention on fouls on the field.
Such a system would be completely impractical in youth games, high school games and even college matches as there simply are not nearly enough referees. But, baseball and football both use a far smaller "crew" in younger games and high school games than are used in the NFL or MLB. As fast as the game of soccer is today and as big as the field is (over 22, that's TWENTY TWO times the size of a basketball court!!!), the traditional three referee system with a fourth referee on the sideline does not do justice to the level of the match.
By the way, contact while the ball is not in play will NOT result in a free kick or penalty kick, players can be and are shown red cards for violent conduct. The restart remains the same -- free kick or throw-in, but action can be taken. So, it's not as if the referees have no recourse simply because the ball is not in play.
Not that I have an opinion on the subject......
