Last week I wrote about how referees can sometimes make a mistake, but of course many decisions are always going to be wrong in the view of one set of players and supporters, although pleasing to the other.
A classic example of this was the FA Cup quarter final game, Fulham v Manchester United. If you watched on television, you will readily recall the incident, but if not, let me briefly describe this contentious affair.
Manchester United were a goal down when they were attacking the Fulham goal and looked certain to score the equaliser, with Fulham’s goalkeeper off his goal line.
However, Fulham’s Willian rushed back and managed to deflect the ball around the goalpost. The referee, Chris Kavanagh, pointed to a corner kick.
He was immediately surrounded by the red shirted United players who protested loudly that Willian had handled the ball. Whether it was their claims or a word in his ear literally from the VAR, we don’t know, but he decided to look at the monitor.
Quite frankly, if the monitor view was the same as that on television, he would have had a difficult decision.
Willian’s arm did move downwards and the Law says, ‘it is a hand ball offence if a player deliberately touches the ball with their hand or arm, for example moving the hand or arm towards the ball’.
But was it deliberate and did it hit his arm or rebound off his leg. Certainly not off his chest as Willian tried to indicate.
Not a decision I would like to have to make, but Chris Kavanagh had to make it, and from his view on the monitor he changed his mind and awarded a penalty.
This may have delighted the Manchester United players, but Kavanagh was immediately surrounded by the white shirted Fulham team as well as their manager Marco Silva, who quickly received a red card to be followed by Aleksandar Mitrovic who pushed Kavanagh roughly in the chest and followed him in a threatening manner.
With Willian also sent off for denying an obvious goal, this left Fulham with only nine players left on the field, and they quickly let in two more goals to lose the match.
A referee is allowed to change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or on the advice of another match official, providing the game has not restarted.
This is what happened at Fulham but what a referee can’t say is ‘I’m not sure, I don’t know’, which of course wouldn’t please anyone. A decision must be made, one way or the other.
By Dick Sawdon Smith
