World Soccer Talk writer Lawrence Dockery, himself a referee, shares his views on refereeing the group stage of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Many don’t realize it, but one of the most important parts of any soccer game is the referee.
Without officials, there is no game.
Being selected to referee at the World Cup is a great honor. And so far in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the refereeing has been splendid.
Of course, there have been conflicting moments, as in all tournaments. But so far the referees have handled themselves with aplomb.
These are some of the key moments of refereeing during the World Cup so far.
red cards
Unbelievably, there were only three red cards in the group stage at the World Cup.
It took until the sixth day of the tournament for someone to be ejected. Unlucky first was Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey against Iran. Initially he only received a booking and a yellow card for fouling an Iranian attacker.
But after a VAR control, he was sent off and showed a red card for ‘Serious Foul Play’. It was the referee’s correct decision when Hennessey drove her knee into the Iranian player’s jaw.
The second red card of the tournament was unusual. South Korea manager Paulo Bento was sacked and shown a red card after the final whistle of the Taegeuk Warriors’ 3-2 loss to Ghana.
Bento appeared to be upset that referee Anthony Taylor ended the game before the South Koreans could take a corner kick and ran onto the field to scold him for it.
But the full amount of added time had been played and Taylor wasn’t having it with Bento’s abuse. He made the right decision by showing Bento the red card.
The last red card of the group stage was during the last game of the group stage. Vincent Aboukabar was already on a yellow card when he scored Cameroon’s winner in stoppage time against Brazil.
And as footballers usually do when they score goals, he took off his shirt to celebrate. Unfortunately, doing so is an automatic yellow card. The referee had no choice but to show him a second yellow card and send him off.
female referees
History was made at this World Cup when female referees were selected to officiate at the World Cup for the first time in history.
That story was amplified when an all-female refereeing team was assigned to the pivotal final Group E game between Costa Rica and Germany.
Stephanie Frappart from France had the whistle, while Neuza Back from Brazil and Karen Diaz Medina from Mexico were on the lines and all three performed very well.
In the last two World Cups, American referee Mark Geiger excelled, taking charge of three games at each of those tournaments.
For the 2022 World Cup, it was Ismail Elfath who got the nod from the ranks of American referees. Elfath whistled the first match of Group H between Portugal and Ghana while his assistant referees were Kyle Atkins and Corey Parker, both Americans.
A slight controversy arose when Elfath awarded a penalty to Portugal in the 65th minute, but it was the right call and the rest of the match went smoothly.
Elfath and his team were tasked with taking charge of the final Group G game between Brazil and Cameroon.
The game was almost uneventful as Brazil had already secured their place in the round of 16 after their second game.
But then the aforementioned Vincent Aboukabar scored and took off his shirt. Elfath clearly felt bad having to send him off for a second yellow card, but his hands were tied.
Also present at the US World Cup is another female referee. Kathryn Nesbitt was sent as an Assistant Referee and was an Offside VAR official for the match between Costa Rica and Germany.
Thoughts on FOX Referee Analysts
As much of its coverage of this World Cup has turned out to be mediocre, it should come as no surprise that Fox’s coverage of World Cup refereeing has also left a lot to be desired.
First is his insistence on continuing to use Joe Machnik as his rules expert. Machnik is not only held in low esteem in the refereeing community due to his lack of knowledge of the Laws of the Game, but he simply does not add anything to the broadcast.
He usually just repeats the question being asked by the commentators instead of shedding light on the referee’s decision or thought process.
Mark Clattenburg, however, has been a wonderful addition as a secondary rules expert. Clattenburg’s qualifications are impressive.
He was selected to referee at Euro 2012 and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He too had a very impressive 2016, as he was selected to referee the FA Cup final, Champions League final and Euro 2016 final, all in the space of two months.
So far during this tournament, he has done a wonderful job of explaining what the referee is looking for when making certain calls. And also he has done a very good job explaining what FIFA expects of the referees in these matches.
One notable omission from the FOX referee think tank is Christina Unkel. At the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, Unkel received rave reviews as FOX’s rules analyst, but she was left off her list for Qatar.
Unkel was also the first to point out something that had gone unnoticed by many viewers. Fox Sports.
Instead, FOX opts to include an extra minute or two of commercials, robbing referees of the little recognition they get before games start.
Many viewers have also noted that FOX Sports commentary duo John Strong and Stuart Holden have been particularly vociferous in their criticism of referees, especially during USA games.
His call during the USA-Wales game takes the cake. Every time a US player was fouled, they criticized the referee for not showing the yellow card.
Every time an American player was booked and shown a yellow card, they would flip the script and start wondering what a foul even looked like, let alone a yellow card.
Photo credit: IMAGO / Sven Simon
World Cup 2022 Guide
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