The shocking event has occurred in the 78' minute of the game. AR2 has been hit by a bottle thrown from the stands, during the game between Austrian side of Sturm Graz and AEK Larnaca from Cyprus.
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| AR suffered a serious injury with blood and he was later replaced by fourth official |
First of all, we strongly condemn this action and we want to wish the assistant referee a quick and full recover from this serious injury.
Following this incident, after a quite long break of the play, UEFA has decided to resume the game with the fourth official taking the duties of the assistant referee. According to our opinion this was a very weak signal against the violence, almost an unacceptable choice, if we think to all referees who suffer such acts in amateur and minor leagues. UEFA must be aware that this was a wrong choice in any case. This action could have led to very serious consequences for the assistant referee. Game had to be stopped in any case and then disciplinary committee would have decided about the outcome.
As referee, after such incident, somebody wouldn't have even the courage to go on. Indeed, the only right thing to do is to stop everything.
In recent times UEFA has shown, of course that's just our opinion and nothing more, a certain tolerance about this kind of incidents, trying always to favour the game in any situation, even when players and referees safety has been in danger. We could mention Montenegro - Russia, as example, officiated by Aytekin three years ago: a firecracker had hit Russian keeper, but also in that case, after a long break, UEFA decided to resume the game and some players were hit again, and then finally there was a suspension.
Safety is not a joke, for this reason we can't definitely understand why for UEFA playing football seems to be more important in certain circumstances.
The video of the incident:
Great post. I strongly condemn this action. I don't think the referee had much choice in the matter.
ReplyDeleteHard to find words...schocking...
ReplyDeletevery good post and comment. It's really a Shame that the match was not suspense immediately.
ReplyDeletemy full sustain to the swedesh assistant and to all referees that very often face such violence in the amateur and minor championship
*suspended
DeleteAwful. Lets hope this won’t affect his future career, probably it won’t affect him but you never know what he thinks about it. And he got an jack in the head wicg shows that it was not just and “easy” attack
ReplyDeleteSHAME, SHAME, SHAME. SHAME ON UEFA. Great post by blog author.
ReplyDeleteShocking act by hooligans and more shocking by UEFA. What? Game can be stopped only if someone dies? How to deal with such scenes in lower leagues when there is no reaction for something like this in elite competitions.
Once again. SHAME ON YOU, UEFA!!
At least the guy who threw it was indentified
ReplyDeleteI think I am the only one who agrees that the game should continue if they in fact located and removed the hooligan responsible?
ReplyDeleteGuys, imagine a name like Kuipers or Cakir as referee. Chances that they will continue match are 1%
ReplyDeleteOf course, we cant criticize Al-Hakim, we can only criticize UEFA
DeleteAn experienced referee would definitely have effected the decision about the game would continue or not
Deletethank you for highlighting this situation/issue! the decisions in this kind of situation should be standardized as much as possible. It should not depend on whether the referee is a 'big name' or whether the match delegate is experienced and competent. it seems there are two considerations: (1) how serious was the incident and (2) what is the risk for further problems if the match continues; often the answer to the second question is mostly speculation; but the first question should have standard definitions of what type of situations MUST lead to a suspension of the match and what situations CAN lead to a suspension; in my opinion, and just as in many top leagues, any form attack on one of the match officials MUST cause the match to be suspended; (even if, in the case of bottle throwing, the official is not hit or injured; UEFA must show more respect and protection for its officials!!!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, my desires for a quick recovery for the Assistant Referee who has been attacked, and also for the rest of the officiating team in psychological terms. It can't be easy to be in such a situation.
ReplyDeleteI can understand UEFA's rush to play the match. It is almost impossible to find an alternative date with the return leg being played next week. However, this is not a valid excuse. There are alternatives that must be considered. First, if security measures were insufficient and the home team can be blamed in any way, make them lose the match. Second, if that is too hard (which I don't think it is, but some may disagree), play tomorrow without fans. Third, last and worst option, resume the game with the 4th official as AR, but only when the stadium is fully empty and the safety and well-being of the players and officiating team has been assured.
Anything else should not be an option and I think it's time for UEFA (and FIFA, and each national federation) to take this matter seriously. It is hardly the first incident in which here a possible suspension of a match has been considered the best option (an EURO match comes to my mind, but can't recall exactly which one it was. Also a CL match last season involving Real Madrid in which the stadium was full of smoke because of fan's behaviour) but UEFA has decided otherwise. Football is a sport where violence is not welcome. If fans can't behave, they should not be inside stadiums. Unfair for those who do behave, yes, but safety of all actors should go first.
Once again, I wish a quick recovery to all the team.
I can't believe the game was not stopped immediatly (and 3-0 win for the guests). Something like that is unacceptable and untolerable on a football stadium ! The main referee is guilty for this situation (probably also the observer of the game), he showed lack of respect regarding his team mate ...
ReplyDeleteThis is a catastrophic policy of UEFA: games must be played no matter what it happens (for example few weeks ago I watched a game, Stumbras- Apollon Limassol, played in a swamp because of a heavy rain; I can't name football that game...), money should come etc....
After rewatching it, I like the human reaction of the referee. He goes there first and checks on his teammate, with real interest. Not, as you sometimes see, just go there and be the referee. Well done!
ReplyDeleteOT: Jochen Drees becomes new VAR project manager in Germany. He replaces Lutz Michael Fröhlich (who remains head of refereeing) in this role and won't act as VAR himself anymore.
ReplyDeleteDrees and Fröhlich have also denied a row between Brych and Zwayer and given their judgement about the situation in SRB-SUI:
Delete"We see no reason for a conflict in this, it was a normal process. Felix Brych decided the situation for himself and did not ignore any VAR intervention. There was none, because there was footage, which did not clearly refute the original decision 'foul by attacker'.
It is a very complex situation, the principle, that the referee takes the decision, should always prevail, and if the referee decides, as in this case Brych did, on the initial offence of an attacking foul, I would leave that as VAR. Although the detailed analysis may subsequently show that the second offence was the more violent one. If communication reveals that the referee's and the VAR's perceptions are clearly different, then we expect the referee watches the pictures in the review area and possibly corrects his perception. That was not considered in this specific case, because Brych had a clear opinion of the scene. Therefore this process probably would run in the same way during the next Bundesliga season."
OT
ReplyDeleteFenerbahçe SK (TUR) - SL Benfica (POR)
Referee: Slavko Vinčič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Very good game for Vincic.
Very unfortunate incident and I hope the referee recovers well both physically and mentally soon... Out of curiosity, was it a glass bottle or a plastic bottle? Seems quite some blood came out so is it some hard material? Maybe they need to ban such materials in the stadium next?
ReplyDeleteRest in peace dear Soham,you will never be forgotten
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