After the stormy match between Maccabi Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem last night (Monday) at the Sami Ofer Stadium, during which the Yellow and Black received a penalty and Oral Greenfeld sent off Ali Muhammad and Miguel Silva, former referee Liran Liani analyzed the refereeing events in a detailed post on his Facebook page
Below is Liran Liani’s full post
Not every referee gets to referee the difficult and central games in the league, but once you get them – you have to show up for them, you have to excel and adjust your level of judging to the size of the game. Unfortunately, to this day the level of judging does not rise to a high level this season, and in this game we got another proof of that.
First incident: In the 16th minute of the game, Maccabi Haifa midfielder Mahmoud Jaber (No. 26) carelessly kicks the leg of Beitar Jerusalem defender Zohar Zasno (No. 2) inside the penalty area.
Explanation of the incident: there are fouls in the square where the offensive player misleads the defensive player, and as a result of the misdirection the defensive player drags/carries the leg of the offensive player. It is true that there is an initial game with the ball, but immediately after comes the kick with the foot. If the referee on the field had whistled for a penalty kick, the VAR referee would certainly have supported the decision. The reason, in my opinion, that the VAR referee did not intervene in the decision is because the dragging/carrying of the leg was not complete and the contact was not powerful enough. I think the correct decision would have been if the referee had whistled for a free kick on the field.
Second incident: In the 45+3rd minute, a justified penalty kick was stopped for an obvious hand touch inside the penalty area by Maccabi Haifa’s defender, Eli Feingold (No. 22). You can see that the hand is strong and far from the body. Was there an early foul before the hand touched for which the goal should have been disallowed? The answer is no. The defender of Beitar Jerusalem, Zohar Zasno (No. 2), is clearly playing the ball. The yellow card that was drawn to Feingold was waved because the ball was kicked towards the goal for sure.
Third incident – Ali Muhammad’s suspension: In the 7th + 45th minute of the game, after scoring the goal with a penalty kick to Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Haifa midfielder Ali Muhammad (No. 4) was sent off with a double yellow card for blatant protests towards the match referee.
I stood on the subject of protests: I have always led a hawkish and uncompromising line on the subject of protests – not out of ego but out of an understanding that a judge cannot judge without his authority. I advocated zero patience towards protests and disdain for me and my team, no matter what minute of the game. More than once I issued second yellow cards for protests, and in fact I will testify that I was “the father of the approach”. It was mostly at the beginning and middle of the career. When you are already in the last line of your career, players should already know how to respect you, and if it doesn’t happen at this stage – you have to understand with yourself why.
Analysis of the event: This event has two sides – on the one hand, Ali Muhammad, and on the other, the referee. Both are at fault and contribute to the situation. A player, any player, cannot behave in this way. point. He is a role model, he represents an entire club and he must, even if he disagrees with them, respect the referee’s decisions.
Ali Muhammed, who is a fair player, signals to the referee from a distance twice in defiance of Havar’s movement – a movement that definitely warrants a yellow card.
The referee’s mistakes: The referee is the one who got himself into a situation he didn’t know how to get out of. His first mistake was when he chose to “row” for contact and get too close to the player, who from his side also got close. The referee would have done the right thing if he had not approached so close and contented himself with waving the card from a distance, and as soon as the player reached his direction he would have waved his hand forward and signaled him to stop and not to approach, thus creating an authoritative space between him and the player.
His second mistake was that in the heat of things, losing control for a split second, he allowed his ego to rule him and within 4 seconds he waved the yellow card recklessly.
Expectations from a senior referee: It’s not just that the most experienced referee was assigned to this sensitive game – otherwise, any other referee could have been assigned. And yes, more is expected from an experienced judge. Expect to contain, control the situation, bring judicial maturity to the game, and again – God forbid not at the expense of damaging the image and authority of the judge.
And now everyone will ask themselves – could this case have been avoided and behaved differently? The answer to this is probably subjective. In my personal opinion, yes. This incident could have been avoided.
Non-uniformity in judgment: I often deal with the issue of non-uniformity in judgment. In the game of Hapoel Beer Sheva against Maccabi Tel Aviv, we saw a case where Maccabi Tel Aviv’s goalkeeper, Roi Mishfati, ran to the referee in an amok and arrived just before physical contact, but he was not sent off. There should be a clear and uniform guideline for judges.
The incident of sending off the goalkeeper Silva: In the 59th minute of the game, Beitar Jerusalem goalkeeper Miguel Silva (No. 55) trips Maccabi Haifa’s midfielder Dia Saba (No. 10) outside the box, thus preventing a certain opportunity to score a goal. The referee was wrong when He whistled for a penalty kick and waved the yellow card. Thanks to the justified intervention of the VAR referee, the kick was cancelled The penalty and the direct red card was issued, and since it is a factual incident the referee does not need to come and examine the incident on the screen.
Saba-Mozi incident: In the 74th minute, Maccabi Haifa midfielder Dia Saba (No. 10) had to see the red card for a serious foul on Beitar Jerusalem winger Timothy Mozi (No. 11), who groaned in pain A few minutes on the field, the referee made a mistake when he waved the yellow card The VAR made a mistake in not recommending the red card to the match referee.
Summary: This game featured tons of protests from both teams’ players and benches. Players who went against every whistle, players who took the ball after the whistle and delayed its renewal, and in general – the feeling is that they did not recognize the referee on the field. The era of authoritative referees, those who would think twice before throwing a word out of place, is over.
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