feats received such remarkable help like the save made by the Chilean defender Cristian Álvarez on October 12, 2002. In the middle of a heated match between Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile, tied 1-1, the referee Carlos Chandía granted a penalty kick for the away team of Universidad de Chile. The goalkeeper, Jonathan Walker, could not defend his goal because he had gotten hurt during a violent clash against his rival, Mauricio Pinilla.
As the Catholic squad had already made the three substitutions allowed, Álvarez put on his gloves to face the designated kicker, Pedro González. Seconds before whistling to authorize the penalty kick, Chandía put his mouth to Álvarez’s ear, and said, imprudently, “to your left you should go, go to your left.” And so Álvarez did. The defender-turned-goalie dove to that side and saved the shot. The story had a happy ending for Universidad Católica, but not for Chandía. As his inappropriate advice had been captured by the television’s microphones that surrounded the pitch, the unusual mishap spread through the media and ignited a national scandal. The following day, the National Association of Professional Soccer determined, after evaluating the case, that, although the referee could not know for sure where González’s shot would eventually go, his irresponsibility and his big mouth definitely cost him a match fine.
THE AMBASSADOR’S ASSIST
The Argentine triumph over the Peruvian team in the last game of the Copa América (organized in Lima in 1927) happened with a strange play that should have been canceled by the Uruguayan referee Victorio Gariboni. Before the match—which took place on November 27 at the National Stadium in Lima in front of some 15,000 people—began, the authorities had arranged for the United States ambassador in Peru, Miles Poindexter, to give the “initial kick,” a diplomatic formality very common at that time throughout the world and in most sports.
At the appointed time and with the two teams arranged on the pitch, each in its half, Poindexter kicked the ball into the Argentine field toward the visiting players wearing that day a sky-blue shirt crossed by a horizontal white stripe. The ball reached defender Humberto Recanatini’s feet, and, without stopping the action, he executed a long kick to Peruvian territory. The striker Manuel “Nolo” Ferreira, who had sprinted to the rival half, dominated the ball and, to the surprise of the host defenders, who did not move a muscle to stop their action, sent a shot into the goal defended by Jorge Pardón. The Peruvian players protested, but the referee Gariboni validated the conquest because he mistakenly assumed that the match had begun with the touch of Poindexter.
FORGETFUL REFS
On May 6, 2009, when Rosenborg Ballklub received Fredrikstad F.K. during the seventh round of the Norwegian First Division, the referee Per Ivar Staberg left the traditional coin used to determine which team takes first in his locker room. Instead of returning to the dressing room and delaying the start of the match, Staberg had an original idea: to invite the two captains, Mikael Dorsin and Hans Erik Ramberg, to play the traditional children’s game “rock, paper, scissors” to determine the winner. This proved to be entertaining for the 15,000 spectators, who had fun seeing how Ramberg needed three attempts (in the first two they had both chosen the same option) to win their right to draw first.
Another clueless ref, Oscar Sequeira, had to expel the Paraguayan Celso Ayala of CA River Plate vocally on August 31, 1997, a day in which the “millionaire” team lost at home, 1-3, to CA Rosario Central in the Argentine League. Why? Because he had forgotten his red card in the wardrobe. The Paraguayan defender took it all in stride: “Actually, I did not understand anything; they red-carded me without taking out the red card!” he commented after the game with a smile.
THE UNDECIDED
Regulation authorizes the referee to modify his decision only if he realizes that it is incorrect, or if he deems it necessary, after a suggestion from an assistant referee or the fourth referee, provided he has not resumed the game or finished the match. This provision could be very useful except that it is often abused, and the consequence can be detrimental, as seen during a soccer match in Israel in August 2009.
That day, during the second half of the First Division duel between Maccabi Tel Aviv FC and Bnei Sakhnin FC, referee Assaf Kenan validated a goal from home side Maccabi, scored by the Armenian Ilya Yavruyan, the third for him that day, sealing a 3 to 1 victory. However, seconds later and at the request of one of his assistant referees, Kenan called a foul by a Maccabi player in the play prior to the goal. But, following the host players’ vehement protests, including insults, the referee changed his decision again, validated Yavruyan’s goal, and ordered the match to be resumed from the center spot.
The new call then ignited the Sakhnin players, who pounced on the referee, who complained, severely and amid threats to withdraw from the field, and demanded the ref remain firm in voiding the goal. The soft Kenan yielded once again to the claims and arranged for the match to continue 2-1 before the bewildered 8,000 spectators who had gathered at Bloomfield Stadium. The scoreboard, though, ended with an unquestionable 3-1 after Sherran Yeini from the host team clinched the match one minute from the end. Was anyone expelled from the field? Kenan has not yet decided…
COMPENSATION
Selhurst Park, London, January 4, 1998. Home team Wimbledon FC takes their corner kick during their match against Wrexham FC for the third round of the FA Cup, tied at 0-0 and already in additional time. Neil Ardley kicks, the ball flies, bounces off Marcus Gayle’s head, and ends up in the net. An astonishing win? For the referee, Steve Dunn, no. This referee with bad timing had blown his whistle a moment before, while the ball was in the air, to end the match. The London squad players and their coach, Joe Kinnear, scream at Dunn, eager to get him on the grill with potatoes that night. There was nothing to be done; the judge refused to be dinner and, above all, maintained his decision to close the match with the blank scoreboard—even though he knew he screwed up.
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales, January 13, 1998. Wrexham FC and Wimbledon FC are again face to face in the “replay” that must decide which of the two advances to the next round of the famous cup. Again Steve Dunn is officiating. The match is again tied, although 2-2. Again, Wimbledon is on the attack. Again, Neal Ardley launches a cross, and again Marcus Gayle heads it straight into the net. Again, there is controversy: One of the line judges raises his flag to mark the supposedly offside position of Gayle. Dunn breaks the “replay:” This time he validates the goal. According to the referee, the English striker—who would wear the jersey of Jamaica at the World Cup in France that same year—was well onside. Now it is the Welsh who want to murder Dunn. Even more so when, seconds from the end, he fails to grant a clear penalty to Alan Kimble, who had kicked down defender Mark McGregor from Wrexham FC inside the area. The final whistle goes, and Wimbledon moves through to another round. On the trip home, Dunn is calm. At the cost of an injustice, justice was done.
IMPROPRIETIES
On November 8, 1972, for the sixth round of the Argentine National Tournament, CA Huracán beat CA Estudiantes of La Plata 2-0 at their home stadium of Parque de los Patricios. The visitors struggled to get one back and, shortly before the end of the first half, they managed to get referee Washington Mateo to call a penalty kick for them as a result of a clear infringement. However, at the request of one of the assistant referees, who had seen that the foul had been several feet back, Mateo changed the shot from the 12 yards to a free kick outside the Huracán’s penalty box. The transcendental decision irritated the red-and-white players, who disapproved of the exchange with energetic
