Referees

Watch: Referee grabs wrong color card and almost sends off Chris Richards

United States men’s national team defender Chris Richards had a heart-in-mouth moment on Wednesday when he was shown the first red card of his career. Thankfully for the 23-year-old the red card was immediately rescinded.

During Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea the American defender — who plays a defensive midfielder role for Palace — took one for the team and committed a foul to halt a counterattack.

In the 73rd minute Noni Madueke had successfully dribbled past Richards and the USMNT player tried to pull on the Chelsea forward’s shirt to slow him down. 

French player Jeremy Menez gets two yellow cards in six seconds for sarcasm

French striker Jeremy Menez received two yellow cards in the span of six seconds on Tuesday when the referee wasn’t a fan of his sarcastic clapping.

The incident occurred in stoppage time of the Serie B game between Menez’s Bari FC and Andrea Pirlo’s Sampdoria.

In the 95th minute Menez received a yellow card. Things appeared to be normal. That was until Menez gave the referee a sarcastic round of applause for the booking and in an instant the other yellow card came out.

Jeremy Menez red card vs. Sampdoria

Lindsey Horan receives red card after skirmish with opposing player during Champions League

The Lindsey Horan red card in the UEFA Women’s Champions League on Thursday has made the rounds among USWNT fans. The star American was sent off during Lyon’s group stage game vs. Norway’s Brann.

Horan’s red card occurred in the 52nd minute when she was fouled by Brann’s Karoline Haugland. The 29-year-old Colorado native wasn’t pleased about the challenge and gave her opponent a shove.

Tensions continued to rise as words were exchanged with Haugland and then with the referee.

Lindsey Horan red card

Premier League set to have first female referee ever and first black referee in 15 years

LONDON — Rebecca Welch will become the first female referee to officiate a Premier League match when she takes charge of Fulham's home game against Burnley on Dec. 23.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) confirmed the appointment on Thursday and also said Sam Allison would become the first Black official to take charge of a Premier match for 15 years.

Allison will be the referee for Sheffield United v Luton Town on Dec. 26.

Premier League female referee

Only 5% of people can correctly explain why this Rennes goal was disallowed — can you figure it out?

We apologize for the extra clickbaity headline, but we’re serious when we say few people can explain the disallowed Rennes goal vs. Villarreal from Thursday’s Europa League action.

For complete transparency, the author writing this story wasn’t part of the 5% of people who could correctly explain why this goal wasn’t counted upon first viewing. Not even CBS’ commentators understood the Rennes’ stoppage time equalizer mystery.

Before we give you the answer, watch the clip for yourself.

Rennes disallowed goal vs. Villarreal

President of Turkish club arrested after punching referee in the face after a game

ANKARA — The president of top tier Turkish soccer club Ankaragucu, Faruk Koca, was arrested on Tuesday for punching a referee in the face at the end of a match, with the official telling police that Koca had threatened to kill him.

The arrest followed an outbreak of violence during Super Lig club Ankaragucu's home match against Rizespor on Monday evening.

Referee Halil Umut Meler, who was also kicked while lying on the pitch, said that Koca had also threatened him and his colleagues, state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

Newcastle robbed of famous win after controversial handball in stoppage time

Kylian Mbappé struck a controversial penalty deep in stoppage time to earn Paris Saint-Germain a 1-1 draw against a valiant Newcastle United and keep their Champions League destiny in their own hands on Tuesday.

The visitors had led the Group F clash since midway through the opening half thanks to Alexander Isak's tap-in and they weathered a furious late assault from the hosts only to be denied by a cruel and highly-contentious decision.

Hockey’s penalty box could be introduced to soccer as IFAB will trial temporary send offs

LONDON — Measures to improve player behavior and increase respect for match officials were supported at the law-making International Football Association Board (IFAB) annual meeting on Tuesday.

A proposed trial whereby only the team captain may approach the referee in certain game situations was backed and it was also agreed that temporary dismissals for dissent and specific tactical offences should be trialled at higher levels.

Sin bins (similar to hockey's penalty box) have already had a successful implementation in grassroots football.

VAR must’ve taken a nap while Robert Lewandowski was violently thrown to the ground

Barcelona drew Rayo Vallecano 1-1 on Saturday and a moment from the game many fans are talking about was seeing Robert Lewandowski thrown to the ground.

The game was a feisty one that saw several hard tackles and a total of seven yellow cards given out between the two teams. There arguably should’ve been an eighth yellow or possibly a red card for Rayo Vallecano’s Florian Lejeune.

During the game Lejeune and Lewandowski clearly weren’t getting along. When the ball was away from the two players, Lejeune threw the Polish striker to the ground. 

Horrendous calls in Chelsea vs. Real Madrid game reminds us of life before VAR

Chelsea manager Emma Hayes said her side were robbed of a win against Real Madrid in their Champions League opener after the Women's Super League (WSL) champions had to settle for a 2-2 draw on Wednesday following two controversial decisions.

Niamh Charles put Chelsea level after Olga Carmona's 10th-minute goal for the hosts, with Sam Kerr doubling Chelsea's lead in the second half, only for Madrid to be awarded a controversial penalty, which was converted by Carmona.

Chelsea's fury was heightened after an added-time winner from Charles was ruled out for offside.

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