Referee development officer planned for each CONCACAF country

January 6, 2010

CONCACAF will work with each national association to identify and install its own head of referee development, the main focus for the confederation’s officiating efforts in 2010.

A day-long meeting at CONCACAF’s New York headquarters on Tuesday reviewed the progress after 18 months of involvement in FIFA’s Referee Assistance Program (RAP), with plans to also continue with instructional seminars in the region.

“It was an eye-opener for me,” said CONCACAF President Jack Warner, who with General Secretary Chuck Blazer and Deputy General Secretary Ted Howard was on hand for the review. “I was very impressed.

“I saw for the first time the operations for referee development in CONCACAF. I am optimistic. I think we have a bright referee future.”

RAP is to assist in professionalizing and improving the standard of refereeing, unifying the application of the Laws of the Game. It pairs referee development officers with instructors from around the world.

Led by FIFA referee chief Fernando Tresaco, the review and planning session called for the establishment of Referee Development Officers (RDOs) in each of CONCACAF’s member associations. It also furthered planning for more Futuro III courses in Central America, North America and the Caribbean, referee instructional seminars in member associations, fitness tests for every country and elite referee courses for the Caribbean, Central America and a region-wide CONCACAF workshop.

Tresaco was joined by FIFA’s development head Jurg Nepfer and Gregory Englebrecht, the world body’s development officer for the CONCACAF region.

NEW YORK

Concacaf

Tags: assistance program, associations fitness, blazer, Caribbean, Central America, Chuck Blazer, concacaf, confederation, deputy general, eye opener, Fernando Tresaco, fitness tests, general secretary, Gregory Englebrecht, instructional seminars, jack warner, Laws, laws of the game, member associations, New York, president jack, President Jack Warner, referee courses, referee development, refereeing, Secretary Ted Howard, ted howard, york headquarters

Winter stunned by ‘Beach’ ball strike

October 18, 2009

Former Premier League referee Jeff Winter branded the decision to allow Sunderland’s winner against Liverpool on Saturday as “absolutely amazing”.

Darren Bent’s strike beat Reds goalkeeper Jose Reina with the held of a sizeable deflection off a beach ball which had been thrown onto the Stadium of Light pitch by an away fan.

Referee Mike Jones conferred with his assistant but decided the goal should stand, helping Sunderland to a 1-0 win.

Winter told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I’m absolutely amazed. It is basic law in football. The goal should just not have stood.

“The laws of the game state that if there’s an outside interference the game has to be stopped.

“Talk about an outside influence – the ball went in off the beach ball and completely deceived the Liverpool goalkeeper.

“I am absolutely amazed that for a referee at that level of football, that between him, his assistant, the fourth official, they didn’t see what had happened and give the correct decision.”

Winter added he was surprised more focus had not been put on Jones.

He said: “I try to defend referees wherever possible having been there and knowing the problems they face but, on this particular occasion, everybody’s having a laugh and a joke about it, but this is far more serious in terms of the laws of the game than when the referee doesn’t see the ball go over the goalline.

“That is understandable with the pace of the modern game and being unsighted, but this is just basic law.

“An outside influence is any outside influence. It is anything other than the 22 maximum players on the field and the referee.

“If it hits the referee and goes in, he’s part of the game. If a spectator comes on the pitch and kicks the ball, the game must be stopped.

“It’s a basic law of the game – one that fortunately doesn’t come into practice too much – but it’s a basic law of the game that a referee would learn on his initial refereeing cause, not when you’re an established Premiership referee.

“The fact that the referee conferred with his assistant, they knew something was wrong, it’s just absolutely amazing the goal was allowed to stand.”

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: bbc radio 5, correct decision, Darren Bent, deflection, game one, game state, goalline, having a laugh, interference, Jeff Winter, joke, jose reina, laws of the game, Liverpool, liverpool goalkeeper, mike jones, pitch, premier league, premiership, reds, referee, referees, spectator, Sunderland, winter

Fan beaches Liverpool´s title hopes

October 18, 2009

Instant notoriety is guaranteed for a young spectator who effectively condemned Liverpool to a 1-0 defeat against Sunderland here at the Stadium of Light.

The ’supporter’, who was wearing a dark blue top – the colour of Liverpool’s city rivals Everton – has been captured on YouTube throwing a beach ball into the Liverpool penalty area during a Sunderland attack.

He could not have imagined the consequences before a shot from Darren Bent struck the ball and diverted it past goalkeeper Pepe Reina for the decisive goal in Saturday’s match.

It was an incident which provoked surprising responses from the two managers, with Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez remarkably sanguine about a goal that brought about his team’s third successive defeat.

Asked if the goal should have been disallowed, Benitez said: “It’s a technical question. It could be a goal, but it’s difficult to say. In this case, I think it should be a goal.”

Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, was not so certain after speaking to a referee after the game about “outside interference”.

He said: “I’ve been told the laws of the game state it should have been disallowed and the game restarted with a drop ball. But does anybody know that rule?”

Bent didn’t care who was right. He was just happy to claim a goal which meant he’d scored in each of Sunderland’s last five games.

It also moved him level with Liverpool’s Fernando Torres as the Premier League’s top scorer with eight goals.

Bent, who is staking a powerful claim for an England return, said: “It was a strange goal, but I will take it.”

While it was a freakish winner, the outcome of the game was the right one with Sunderland confirming the promise they showed in drawing at champions Manchester United a fortnight earlier.

They outclassed a Liverpool team who were deprived of Torres and Steven Gerrard through injuries and could not fill the gap in class left by those two internationals.

This was their third successive defeat and their fourth in the league this season – and no team has won the championship after losing so many times in the past decade.

However, Benitez is refusing to accept that Liverpool’s pursuit of the title is over.

He said: “This is a bad defeat, but in a normal season, teams at the top would be wining every single game.

“This is a bit different. Chelsea have lost twice and I’ve seen a lot of teams at the top losing games.

“If we win the next two or three games, we could be top of the table. It’s a question of keeping our confidence and working hard. We have to analyse things and see if we are making mistakes,” the Spaniard said.

Bruce said: “I thought we deserved it. We had three one-on-ones in the second-half and could have scored more.

“There was a great atmosphere and maybe the players have not been able to handle it in the past, but they did this time and it’s pleasing.

“We had a bit of luck with the goal, but we took them on and beat them hands down,” the former United captain added.

Sunderland moved above Liverpool with this victory and into seventh place. On this evidence, they could go even higher and it would be no surprise if they still head the Anfield club at the end of the season.

That is the measure of the progress they have made this season thanks to Bruce’s shrewd transfer activity.

SUNDERLAND, England (AFP)

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Blatter demands fair play in AFC leadership row

April 17, 2009

SINGAPORE (AFP) – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has demanded all sides play by the book in an increasingly bitter battle for power inside the Asian Football Confederation.

The head of the sport’s world governing body made the comments as relations between AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam and his chief rival, Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, plummet.

Shaikh Salman, Bahrain’s Crown Prince, is challenging Bin Hammam for his seat on FIFA’s executive committee, with the winner decided at the AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur on May 8.

Qatar’s Bin Hammam, accused by his opponents of being a dictator, says he will step down as AFC chief if he loses the FIFA seat, despite his term not expiring until 2011.

The battle, which both sides claim to be winning, has become increasingly political among the powerful factions within the AFC’s 46 member nations, with Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia all opposed to Bin Hammam.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s football association filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee against the Qatari, accusing him of “groundless, bitter accusations.”

The row stems from remarks Bin Hammam made in a television interview in February, in which he blasted Korea Football Association chief Cho Jung-Yeon, saying he was ready to “cut Cho’s head off.”

Meanwhile, the ethics committee is reportedly probing claims by Bin Hammam that the Olympic Council of Asia, via its national Olympic committees, was trying to pressure national football associations to vote for Sheikh Salman.

Blatter, a long-time supporter of Bin Hammam, said all sides needed to start showing more respect and discipline.

“Football is a universal sport based on the fundamental principles of discipline and respect for opponents and the laws of the game… underpinned by the values of fair play and ethics,” he said in a statement.

“These principles and values must be applied not only on the field of play, but also in the administration and governance of football, particularly in the area of sports politics.

“And, of course, this includes elections to the governing bodies of football.

“As president of FIFA, it is my duty to remind all members of the Asian football community of the importance of these values in the run-up to the election scheduled for May 8 for the vacant Asian seat on the FIFA executive committee.”

Several key proposals made by Bin Hammam have proved to be controversial, and helped spark the move to oust him.

These include his plan to move the AFC headquarters out of Malaysia, a proposed 12-year marketing deal with World Sport Group and amendments to the AFC statutes that would consolidate his power.

Despite the move to unseat him, Bin Hammam believes he has the numbers to remain at AFC House, claiming this month that he has the support of 33 of the 46 members nations so far, with a two-thirds majority required.

Asia has four seats on the FIFA executive committee — South Korea’s Chung Mong-Joon as vice-president, Japan’s Junji Ogura from East Asia, Thailand’s Worawi Makudi from Southeast Asia, and Bin Hammam.

Bin Hammam’s is the only position up for election.

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Blatter demands fair play in AFC leadership row

April 16, 2009

SINGAPORE (AFP) – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has demanded all sides play by the book in an increasingly bitter battle for power inside the Asian Football Confederation.

The head of the sport’s world governing body made the comments as relations between AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam and his chief rival, Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, plummet.

Shaikh Salman is challenging Bin Hammam for his seat on FIFA’s executive committee, with the winner decided at the AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur on May 8.

Qatar’s Bin Hammam says he will step down as AFC chief if he loses the FIFA seat, despite his term not expiring until 2011.

The battle, which both sides claim to be winning, has become increasingly political among the powerful factions within the AFC’s 46 member nations, with Japan South Korea, and Saudi Arabia all opposed to Bin Hammam.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s football association filed a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee against the Qatari, accusing him of “groundless, bitter accusations.”

Blatter said all sides needed to start showing more respect and discipline.

“These principles and values must be applied not only on the field of play, but also in the administration and governance of football, particularly, in the area of sports politics.

“And, of course, this includes elections to the governing bodies of football.

Bin Hammam’s is the only position up for election.