Referee's timekeeping
Posted: September 25th, 2017, 12:00 am
Not sure if this is the right board, as it's a sort of DAK. I was watching - from the edge of my seat - the Leicester Liverpool game yesterday, and I was incandescent when Leicester scored their first goal at 47 minutes 38 seconds.
This was 38 seconds after the injury time had expired. If the referee had done his job properly the goal wouldn't have been scored.
I would even have thought there's an argument that a goal scored outside the allocated injury time should just be disqualified.
Also, the players can see the time on the electronic display, and it's bound to have at least some effect on them if they think the game's within seconds of finishing.
I've seen this happen a lot, though not usually with such drastic consequences. So why are referees apparently unable to abide by the rules of the game and stop it immediately the allotted time has expired?
I suspect that on many occasions it's because they are caught up in the drama of the game, and want to see whether a promising move - in this case a corner - will actually result in a goal. Whilst this may be understandable - and even lead to a better game for the neutral spectator - it's not fair on the team that suffers as a result.
Perhaps the FA should replace the referee with an automatic timekeeper that signals the end of the injury time by some sort of audible or visual signal - an amplified whistle would do perfectly well.
As it turned out it didn't make much difference on this occasion, but there are games where an additional goal scored after the play should have stopped could have massive consequences for either or both teams, and it seems wrong that this should be allowed to happen.
(Mind you, I doubt I'd have posted this had it been Liverpool who had scored!)
This was 38 seconds after the injury time had expired. If the referee had done his job properly the goal wouldn't have been scored.
I would even have thought there's an argument that a goal scored outside the allocated injury time should just be disqualified.
Also, the players can see the time on the electronic display, and it's bound to have at least some effect on them if they think the game's within seconds of finishing.
I've seen this happen a lot, though not usually with such drastic consequences. So why are referees apparently unable to abide by the rules of the game and stop it immediately the allotted time has expired?
I suspect that on many occasions it's because they are caught up in the drama of the game, and want to see whether a promising move - in this case a corner - will actually result in a goal. Whilst this may be understandable - and even lead to a better game for the neutral spectator - it's not fair on the team that suffers as a result.
Perhaps the FA should replace the referee with an automatic timekeeper that signals the end of the injury time by some sort of audible or visual signal - an amplified whistle would do perfectly well.
As it turned out it didn't make much difference on this occasion, but there are games where an additional goal scored after the play should have stopped could have massive consequences for either or both teams, and it seems wrong that this should be allowed to happen.
(Mind you, I doubt I'd have posted this had it been Liverpool who had scored!)