Referring Cock Up Wrecks Game - Takahara Goal Disallowed Why?

Barry writes

Not even level - when Brosque nudged the ball on, Takahara was being played WELL onside by Alex. Horrific decision that wrecked an entire game.

It's clear Alex (No. 5) knew he was playing Taka onside by his hasty (but woefully too late) stepping up. To be fair, the ref's line of sight was blocked, but God only knows what the linesman's positioning was like to make such an elementary mistake.

Ineptitude

The goal in full.



Was this discussed on TV? No. Will the officials admit to the error? No. Will refereeing standards improve by sweeping horrendous mistakes under the carpet and / or simply pretending they didn't happen? No.

FOR SHAME.

Kashiwa 3-0 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Kashiwa 3-0 S-Pulse

Att. 10390

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Tsujio
DF Hiraoka
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Edamura
MF Ono
MF Iwashita
MF Brosque

FW Omae
FW Ito

Subs Used

Takahara on for Brosque (55)

Report

A heady combination of a newly put together team, a referee making a couple of awful calls and a team new to J1 out to impress, and there you go. We looked disjointed and full of nerves and never really got it together.

The team is J1, the facilities are non league

Hitachi fans show their support for their company

In the thick of it

Miles mate, great to meet another S-Pulse supporting Brit! Sorry if I was a bit drunk - had to fill up the several hours before kick off somehow. I actually had my phone turned off, so you may have just got voicemail if you tried calling. Pretty sure that number was right, though.

Video

Check out our wonderful travelling support. You can also see the harsh freekick for their opener as the and a totally crazy call for the straight red. Poor Bosnar - you have to feel sorry for him when the referee's thinking pattern seems to go: huge white guy comes into contact with opponent = foul. He played the ball in what was to my mind a brilliant tackle. How the ref can blow the decision to such an extreme... God help tall foreign players when this guy is around, that's all I can say.

Ryuji Sato (33) - you blew it mate

Referee Takuto Okabe Suspended After Trick Penalty

Barry writes:

Referee Takuto Okabe, who was in charge of our opening weekend fixture with Hiroshima, has been suspended for two games. The reason being his failure to call Hiroshima's so-called "trick penalty" as illegal.

The penalty in question:



I barely mentioned this in my report for the game, but that was due to the TV signal cutting out for the spot kick and my subsequent not bothering to watch it.

The problem with the kick is that the eventual kicker is not clearly identified by the referee prior to it being taken, nor is he inside the penalty area when the whistle sounds. As Sato is outside the box when the whistle is blown, he is ineligible as the taker. The taker should be in the box along with the defending goal keeper.

Read about the rule-breaking penalty on Reuters, here. Okabe has got his punishment, but I think in the spirit of fairness, Hiroshima's goal should be struck off the record, and the three points given to us.


;-)