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Officiating has been one of the more talked about topics in MLS circles early in the 2009 season as red cards and penalty calls, many of them which have looked questionable, have drawn criticism from fans and media who have tried figuring out why there has been this new trend of calls and cards.
In my latest piece for ESPN.com, I delve into the subject of MLS referees and I think some folks will be surprised with the findings. In talking to a variety of coaches and players, the consensus has actually been that officiating in MLS is better now, but that there are more big calls being made. Why so many more red cards and penalty calls? New directives from U.S. Soccer have asked referees to look out for specific plays more closely, such as handballs in the box and fouls that deny goal-scoring opportunities.
What do you think of the piece? Surprised that coaches believes the officiating is better this year? Not buying the theory that players will adjust to the way things are being called? Do you still think the referees have been terrible this year?
Share your thoughts on MLS officiating in the comments section below.
Lots of Seattle fans understand WHY Riley got the red even if we don’t agree with it. The fact is, if the ref had had better control of the match, had cautioned against the delay tactics being employed, had not chosen to turn his back on the free kick after awarding it, then many of the things that occurred would not have.
Riley lost his cool and cost his team, and I’m not letting him off the hook for that as a fan…BUT…if the ref had done his job it wouldn’t have come to that.
Also, I don’t believe the ref was “in the bag” for LA. I think he was just simply incompetent.
I’ve noticed how bad the refs have been in MLS for many years. Yes, refs are criticised worldwide (Chelsea Barca anyone?) but the the MLS has a greater need for good refs, I would argue. The game is still in its infancy here and won’t be able to survive the horrid displays like the Seattle/LA game.
How are teams ever going to bring good players here when it seem like every DP has a target on his back to be kicked from behind? Until the league cracks down and changes its “physical league” image, the product’s only going to get worse, not better.
Of course, the secret to getting better refs is for all the people who have problems with the reffing to become certified and do a better job …
After the Seattle/LA game Sigi said that in the NCAA coaches are allowed to list a couple of referees not allowed to referee his teams game. He added that as a result, Weyland had not called many of Sigi’s games. I don’t think he will get fined for saying that…but who knows?
11,000 people all saw the clear handball to block an incoming cross in the Chicago Revolution game, but the ref somehow missed it.
Watched the DVR of the SEA-LA game… The non-call penalty wasn’t as bad as I thought live. The red card was a bigger joke.
Peter Neumann–the LA player cupped his hand around Riley’s head, Riley did the same thing back to him and the LA player dropped like a pole-axed cow. It certainly wasn’t a closed fist.
Anyway, getting pissed about the calls is kind of useless… If the refs can’t control a game, this is what you get…
There are a couple issues you didn’t address that have a huge impact on MLS officiating. First the is the lack of full time officials, since the league is still dealing with the vast majority of officials being part-timers it is hard for them to be at the top of their game. I have watched as guys on the sidelines get caught out of position time and time again during matches and miss or make bad calls because of positioning.
I would love to see footy start to use technology, we should be using tech to aide officials. Things like is it a goal are so simple to measure using technology, while out of position officials can easily miss close calls. If you remove as much of the guess work from the matches it will allow officials to have an easier go of controlling the matches.
Terry, any time a player throws a punch they are to be red carded, and Riley should be gone for at least 3 matches for being so stupid. He has a history of doing stupid things in matches, this is just the latest example. Seattle got upset that things weren’t going their way and tried to bully the play and the officials and got called on it. Welcome to the real world.
they only make bad calls against my team, your team always gets the calls
How can anyway claim that Riley did not deserve that red card or call in “rediculous?” He threw a closed-fisted punch to the side of player’s head. Look, I’m with you guysm and I can see the ref’ing is pretty rediculous compared to other ref’ing around the world. But Ives is right about the red cards. There have only been a small few that have been undeserved.
The Seattle-LA game was almost un-watchable today. If you cannot count on a referee to be impartial, then how can you watch the game. Ives, please take a look at this game and you will understand the amount of people upset. Blatent non call foul in the box. Ridiculous red card. Tons of Yellows. Obvious stalling, with no penalty. It was ridiculous!
I can’t say that the refs are any better… Linesmen that don’t know how to make a proper offsides call… Phantom fouls when no contact, people getting run over and no fouls… headlocks and other wrestling moves result in no fouls. Tripping over your own feet and diving results in fouls. INCONSISTANCY… Yeah I guess it is getting better if you have no clue what you are doing and you start from the vantage point of hey it can’t be worse a blind man blowing a whistle randomly.
The LA delay tactics were cowardly and inexcusable
The LA delay tactics were the natural result of a team with no speed and no offensive creativity (except for Donovan) that’s under tremendous pressure from its incompetent management (read: Tim Leiweke).
Tim Weyland completely undercut ANY argument that officiating has improved in the MLS. He was so brutal that Sigi is likely to be suspended for his comments regarding Weyland after the game.
If MLS wants it to be a truly “beautiful game” they’d better referee in a way that encourages finesse and skill over thuggery and hackery. The LA delay tactics were cowardly and inexcusable
Thank you Joseph D’Hippolito.
Yves, I think you must be on drugs to write an article like this.
MLS is almost unwatchable because of the horrid officiating. And I do not think it is purely incompetence. The beneficiaries of some of the worst officiating I have watched are the big media teams, Chicago and LA.
If NY and LA are incompetently run franchises, why not give them a little help from the refs. After all, sports is a business, especially MLS. A winning franchise in LA, NY or Chicago is worth a lot more than a winning franchise in Columbus, Seattle or Kansas City.
Of course, Chicago is an excellent franchise that can win without help, but why leave it all to chance. Just give their opponent a red card. Any foul will do.
3 questions, Ives.
First, does U.S. Soccer also oversee CDN officiating – as in TFC MLS games?
If not, who ensures consistency with games across the border?
Second, if the perception that in previous years Refs got 50% of the calls right and now the perception is that they’re up to 60% how can we use perception as a gauge improvement?
If the above or similar were true, this can hardly be satisfying. My point is – where is the imperical evidence? Where is the transparency and data that demonstrates that there is an actual improvement versus a “perception” of improvement.
Finally, can you, MLS or U.S. Soccer point to new programs, resources, money or other that can make the MLS Officiating naysayers begin to believe that steps – other than a staff replacement at U.S. Soccer, that things will change and we will see a noticeable difference in the quality of officiating?
Unless someone can prove things are changing, I argue that we better all get use to fans being highly critical of MLS Refs.
Once again, Tim Weyland has proven that the lobotomized have a place in contemporary society…
Also, great article Ives. I happen to agree that over all officiating has gotten better and game will benefit. But the calls have to be consistent. Today’s ref was not consistent, and that is what led to so many problems. It seemed he was randomly blowing his whistle instead of actually watching the game. Terrible showing. The other games I’ve watched have been pretty well reffed I’d say. But this one really got under my skin. Must be that LA Conspiracy thing… Never put much stock in it but now I almost am a believer… 🙂
Just got back from the La-Sea game, In all my years of soccer, both playing and watching, i’ve never seen a ref let his emotions control him so much.
He ended the game with Seattle having numbers going forward in the attacking third of the field. I have never seen this happen. I know the ref can stop the game at anytime but you usually force the defense to make that final stop. Be blew the whistle and ran off the field. Basically a big F-You to all the fans that consistently called him out for his poor officiating.
He should be removed for that. A ref cannot allow his emotions to influence the game like that.
agreed with Ryan… anyone who watched LA-SEA today will never agree with those coaches… the ref was a travesty. worst game i’ve ever seen reffed. absolutely horrendous. the fans booed them off the pitch after the first half it was so bad, and they should be forced to issue formal apologies after their even worse second half calls.
just got done watching the LA-seattle match, and that ref was absolute GARBAGE! he must have naked pics of garber because there is no reason he should be officiating top flight soccer. and he was also the ref for the LA-chivas game that was out of control. this guy has no respect from the players, and shows it by wipping out cards instead of controlling the game. oh, and 3 mins of stoppage time at the end of the sounders game? it should have been 6. embarassing.
“… an increased emphasis on specific types of plays, such as handballs in the penalty area.” Richie Williams had it exactly right when he expressed concern about referees being instructed to look for and emphasize specific fouls.
Look at the call on Seth Stammler that resulted in the only score in a Red Bulls’ loss, and then compare it with the non-call on Pique in Barcelona-Chelsea. Stammler’s was a penalty and Pique’s wasn’t? The MLS referee had been instructed to emphasize hand balls.
I’m blind, I’m deaf, I wanna be a ref!
I agree with Shep Messing on this one…the tighter officiating is good, it helps the flow of the game and reduces the hack-and-foul fests that have so often characterized MLS games in the past. Gradually the players will adapt, and games will end up being more entertaining. It’s already having an effect to my eyes.
Though having said that I’ve definately seen some dodgy reds and penalities this year.
So when is handling by an attacking player going to start getting carded? Never, even if it’s a ‘hand of God’ situation.
Also agree the wrestling matches are getting out of hand-cf Drogba and Toure tugging on each other in one of the controversial plays of the CL semi.
Cards or not, focus should be directed at defensive players that use there hands and arms to body-up and slow down attacking players. It is disgusting watching guys like Nick Garcia and Danny O’Rourke play defense…no wonder they don’t get called up or get any looks oversas. The rules limiting defensive backs from impeding recievers in the NFL would be a good place to start…and I believe holding is an infraction in soccer, so they should just start calling it! It is hard to play or create any flow with a two hundred pound fullback on your back.
I’m just waiting for the first PK to be called in the box for The Crew whenever the defenders just wrestle Chad Marshall to the ground rather than try to defend him.
think the officiating is good, better than in the barca chelsea match for sure
that is all
I think assistant referees are too often hesitant to voice their opinions. Plus, they will not be able to have a good view of the center of the field. I would say some posters on here are pointing to some very rare cases in which the assistants or 4th official had a major impact on a match.
Having said that, I would not support the addition of another main ref. I can see a lot of second guessing and arguing between the two refs that could slow down the flow of the game. I can also see too many fouls being called because both officials will want to play a role. We just have to live with mistakes sometimes. It’s not the end of the world.
Soccer refs can use their assistants for close calls, but I definitely would not oppose another ref to monitor the box or TV replays to make sure goals were valid/onside/crossed the line.
I am for this slight tweak because the game has already stopped so there’s no harm – the only diff is a goal kick vs a center re-start. However, for phantom PK calls or none calls on goals, a video replay does not seem possible without gutting the game’s rhythm
And the MLS refereeing is tough – the MLS as a league is more athletic than it is technical, so its u really cant read the play as it develops. I am happy to have seen plenty of red cards so far this year, but I agree that the lack of PK calls is troubling
There is a lot of information from the fans perspective in terms of referees, many of the comments on this board included, that are inaccurate or ill-informed.
There are four officials at every MLS game (Referee, Assistant Referee (2), and 4th Official). They are all assessed on their performance each and every MLS game as far as I know. This is the first year that MLS has finally gone to the headsets, so the Referee and AR’s can communicate.
US Soccer has made improvements in areas of Referee development, training, and quality. Unfortunately, the results of some of these improvements will take years upon years before we see them improve the refereeing as a whole (sort of like the development of our US National team and the US Development Academy and youth teams).
All that said, the performance of the referees needs to improve overall and be as consistent across the board as possible.
For those of you who really want to learn more about the referee program and decision making, rules, etc., I would urge you to head over to USSoccer.com and review the Referee Programs area including the Week’s in Review because the information is public and worth a review if you want to have a complete view of refereeing in the USA. Also, FIFA Laws of the Game is a good resource for all of the rules and enforcement.
I’m a fan of MLS and hope that the quality of the teams, players, and refs all continue to improve as the league grows and time passes. Onalfo’s comments were spot on in my opinion. And while Williams’ comments could be true, I think FIFA places directives and it goes down to each federation.
Good article. Officiating in MLS has absolutely improved. In the first few seasons, I remember seeing some completely embarrassing calls. A forward would be several feet past the last defender and not be called off, or a defender would go studs up into a forward’s knee and there would be no foul called.
We’re now debating whether a handball was intentional or wether the slide tackler was the last defender. These debates happen every week in every league in the world.
Having consistency is a nice idea, but unless you can figure out a way to have the same officials at every match, it’s somewhat wishful thinking. I’ve always felt the biggest universal problem with officiating in soccer is that some officials will call a penalty just like they would call a foul anywhere on the field, while other officials wouldn’t give a penalty if a homicide occurred in the box. This is obviously true in MLS as well.
Did you ask him about the Marrufo situation? Maybe even the mysterious handball call in the home opener for LA that Marrufo bungled? As well as letting play run on with two bleeding players on the ground? I would like to know what he had to say about that. Marrufo seems to get a pass because his father was such a well known ref.
I didn’t think that US Soccer and so many coaches thought this, but I have been saying this since like the 3rd or 4th week.
Fans have constantly criticized MLS for “amateurish” defending and for not protecting the star attacking players. Now, red cards have been handed out at an incredible rate, making MLS defenders think twice about clumsy challenges. But the fans still gripe???
Having directives may not produce the best results, but they are helping. The next step is for the teams to sign better defenders that can avoid those game-changing red cards.
In the Barcelona vs Chelsea match the assistant referee (linesman) was the one that made the call to get the Barcelona player sent off. Linesmen do make calls that affect matches and the on the pitch referee frequently interacts with them.
The flow of soccer is setup to be ran by one lead official. Issuing of fouls and cards during the run of play is not an exact science.
For the record soccer has 4 officials working each game. If you don’t think they all have a role to play in the match, ask Zidane about the relevance of the 4th official.
Ives – I would have liked to see more MLS people go on the record on this or at least anonymously quote. Were people reticent to even get involved?
Ironic that you put Terry Vaughn up. I’ve known the guy since his days working as the front door security guard at McLeodUSA in Cedar Rapids and can say that at least his intentions are always good…
As for improvement… well, if you started at a zero, it’d be hard to get worse
NBA has 3 refs. Soccer could definitely use another one.
Awesome piece, Ives–you’re totz the bomb.
Good!
About time …
aye, if the calls are consistent, we won’t be chanting for “a rope [and] a tree” when one of our players go down if that type of offense isn’t called for anybody. not looking for special treatment, just equal across the board.
I think that MLS would actually be a great place for FIFA to experiment with two referees. It’s odd, really that the NBA, with ten players on a eighty foot court has two, while soccer, with 22 players on a hundred meter field has only one on the pitch. That, or give linesmen more ability to call fouls. I see no reason why the linesmen can’t have headsets connecting them to the head referee and the ability to signal more fouls, that would give two sets of eyes at each end. The referee could ignore the foul in a play-on situation, for instance and would still have ultimate authority to issue cards and fouls.
I agree with Matt, just be consistent with the calls
Ives, I agree with your ESPN article. I’m a huge NBA fan, but the refereeing there borders on WWE refereeing. I’ve always felt soccer was the next closest in terms inequitable calls, so I am in favor of even MORE cards being pulled out.
I really don’t feel that MLB, NFL, NHL, or even tennis calls are dramatically different depending on what’s going in the game. We all know the NBA protects its superstars. In soccer, including the MLS, I feel like there’s still an unwillingness to call fouls inside the box on the defensive team. Of course, there aren’t different rules on paper based on the location of the ball, but reality is different.
As fans, I think most of us simply want consistent calls. If you’re just not going to call inadvertent hand balls, fine. But don’t call them outside the box and then swallow the whistle inside the box. Just my two cents, anyway.
Officiating is always crap, because it’s hard…I’ve played all my life and the only time I have a problem when a ref either doesn’t know the rule or thinks that he’s above reprieve. Yes it sux in MLS, but I’m sure we saw the CL game, where the reffing was bad.
1. Thanks for the article. Timely piece.
2. Significant anecdotally that 6 head or asst. coaches think it is improving, and nice that two (i think) were mentioned by name. But I would like to see a Poll on all head coaches, and name names with results (and no fine ramifications!)
3. Richie Williams is correct to be worried about “over-focus” by refs. However, over-focus is not all bad if it is a corrective measure to a trend of bad play.
4. I would like to know more about how refs are reviewed and how refs themselves review games (theirs and others) and are trained.
5. How do the part-time refs compare to the full time refs?
That’s a start.
Refs will never get the respect that they deserve from any league or country. Complaining about the refs is part of the game, to a degree. No one ever complains when the calls go their way. It would be great to see former players become refs as they move into retirement. MLS, USSF and the player’s union should try to get some sort of program going to support that
The most important thing in refereeing is consistency. If a ref is consistent in his calls the players WILL (or should) adjust. Consistency has to be throughout the game and throughout referees.
The MLS, and soccer in general, should instruct the referees to crackdown on grabbing, holding, and other “tactical” fouls. This part of the game that has become increasingly prevalent and sophisticated takes away numerous possible scoring opportunities every game. Think of how many more goal opportunities there would be if during corner kicks, a defensive player could not hinder an offensive player (and vice versa) or if “tactical” fouls were removed from the game that constantly slow down play.
Diving should also be dealt with harshly. I don’t mind red cards for these type of offenses. Players should and will adjust. If they don’t then their teams should pay harshly.