When thinking of heroines and heroes on the pitch, the referee isn’t typically too high on the list, but American ref Katja Koroleva is proving to be one of the sport’s biggest heroines during the pandemic.
In an interview with Los Angeles Times writer Kevin Baxter, Koroleva shared her experiences while battling the novel coronavirus as a physician assistant.
FIFA announced an emergency, temporary change to the substitution rule on Friday, allowing teams five replacements per match, instead of the regular three. The change was a quick reaction to expected fixture congestion as leagues attempt to complete seasons after months-long delays caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. While a fifth option off the bench will certainly help players, the FIFA substitutions rule change highlights how little shits world football’s governing body gives about head injuries.
I’ll admit, I’m quite enjoying having an excuse to never leave my apartment. Whenever I’m not working, I’m happily passing the time playing video games, watching TV/movies and trying out new cocktail recipes. Sure there’s no soccer to watch, but otherwise life is just fine for introverts like myself.
But there are moments when being under shelter-in-place orders are less than ideal, and I’m not talking about the combat in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which simply isn’t fun.
FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure to help cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Football has been at a standstill since mid-March but many leagues and federations are still hoping to complete the season but to do so they would have to cram fixtures into a shorter period than usual once play re-starts.
Tanzanian assistant referee Frank Komba isn’t letting anything come between himself and his linesman duties. Komba — like most of us — is stuck inside his home and unable to officiate any matches. When games resume, he won’t be at all rusty thanks to his at-home training.
FIFA-qualified Assistant Referee Frank Komba is not letting self-isolation get in the way of his training pic.twitter.com/TpmbGG452g
Being a referee at any level of sport isn’t always a great time. The majority of the time no one likes you and every call you make will have someone disagreeing with you. For Premier League referee Anthony Taylor this is nothing new. But this week, Taylor made a call that no one will dispute.
MANCHESTER, England — When football's law-making body IFAB met last week, a decision that could massively impact the game at all levels passed barely noticed as the debate over VAR technology hogged the limelight.
Officials of IFAB, the International Football Association Board, made up of the four British home nations and FIFA, agreed to conduct a year-long review into the offside law, which is expected to end with a proposal for a new rule.
The implications were not lost on Mark Bullingham, chief executive of England's Football Association.
Most players receive only a few red cards in the course of a career. Red cards can be a last ditch effort for a referee to control a game after it becomes unhinged. Typically, the events that lead up to a red card are unintentional - almost humorous. (We can all thank Fellaini for this comical exchange with Sergio Aguero during the Manchester Derby.)
The fifth round of the FA Cup kicked off with Arsenal visiting League One side Portsmouth on Monday. Because rules makers in England are about as smart as blade of grass, just three of the eight matches this round will feature a VAR. The lunacy of this decision was highlighted by a horrific Lucas Torreira injury that went unpunished.
A visible clock is one of the measures being considered by Major League Soccer to solve the problem of time-wasting by players, according to former World Cup final referee Howard Webb, who is now the MLS's head official.
Webb told Reuters he was "open-minded" about the concept and that MLS could perhaps serve as a test model to trial the idea, just as it was the world's first league to use the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system at every match.