Going Pear Shaped

This saying has found its way into our general vocabulary via the Metropolitan Police - or more correctly the TV portrayal of the Met. Police.  It simply means that things are going wrong rather quickly.   It comes from observing the pears we buy, these are rock hard for the next five days, all perfect to eat on the sixth morning and rotten by the same evening.

How often have you been refereeing a game that's going real easy through the first half, and the second starts off just the same?  It's one of those times when you think that this refereeing lark is a synch.

It only takes a moment to go pear shaped on you.  You let a bad tackle go unpunished as it has been a good match, and within seconds, the whole atmosphere has changed.

You have retribution being sought, and all of a sudden you are in a downward slide. Questions set in, where a moment ago there was certainty.  An easy game turns in to a horror. You probably end up with several cautions and, maybe even dismissals, simply down to a momentary lack of concentration. Refereeing professionalism must be maintained for the whole of the ninety minutes - a caution in one game is, 99% of the time, a caution in another.

Players can make many mistakes without serious consequences but a referee can only get away with a few minor errors like giving an occasional throw in the wrong way. If you fail to react to bad physical challenges it will go pear shaped on you in no time at all.

A Question of Interpretation

At last months meeting a point was raised about what to do in a certain situation.  Coincidentally the same question was in the January 'Football Referee' under the heading Law Queries.  I quote:

'An attacker and defender left the field during the momentum of the game, and the ball remained in play.  As the attacker tries to re-enter the field of play, the defender holds him back.  As this incident is off the pitch, and the ball is 'in play', what decision should a referee make regarding this incident'.
The answer given in the article is:

If an application of the advantage clause is not possible, and play is stopped for the offence, the defender should be cautioned and restart play with a drop ball at the position of the ball when the infringement was committed, except if it is within the goal area at the time, in which case it shall be dropped on that part of the goal area line which runs parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the ball was when play was stopped.  If the advantage was applied the offending player would still be cautioned when the ball was next out of play.

This very incident happened to Gary Neville in South America during Manchester United's recent 'winter break'.

On that occasion the referee did absolutely nothing, which is patently wrong.  I believe that the answer given above is also wrong.  Surely the game should be restarted with an indirect free kick to the attacking player.

On the face of it a drop ball is correct.  Law 8 says,  'A dropped ball is a way of restarting the match after a temporary stoppage which becomes necessary, while the ball is in play, for any reason not mentioned elsewhere in the Laws of the Game'.  However there is provision for this in Law 12.
To restart the game with a drop ball the stoppage must have been caused by something other than an infringement of the laws, such as an injured player or outside interference.  This is not so in this situation.  The game is stopped to administer a caution, and as such the game must be restarted with an indirect free kick.

Law 12 states:     'An indirect free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if a player, in the opinion of the referee commits any other offence, not previously mentioned in Law 12, for which play is stopped to caution a player'.

Continued…..