AboutJohn Cummings Expertise Do you have a call made by the referee in last week`s match puzzling you? Are you a referee who may not be certain that what was done was the right thing to do? I shall be glad to entertain any questions about officiating soccer. The more the players, coaches and supporters understand the referee and his/her decisions, the more fun we can have on the pitch.
Experience After coaching my son's travel team, I have been USSF State Referee, State Assessor, Assignor and State Instructor in addition to having been a college NISOA referee,a NISOA clinician, a NISOA assessor and a high school referee.
Question Goalie laying on the ground cradling ball totally in control.
Opposing player on run makes contact with knee to goalie head - all appearances intentional to me - opposing player made no move to leap or avoid goalie but seemed to "knee" into goalie in passing.
I called a penalty & removed player from game. Correct call? Or should it have been a yellow card?
Answer From your description, I would say you made a great call. It takes courage and fortitude to make such a call.
If you felt that the player intentionally "kneed" the player, then red was the color of the day. If you felt it was reckless or careless, I could possibly see an argument for yellow, but a knee striking the keeper's head could be quite dangerous.
It's hard to put into print, but you saw the action and you felt it was intentional. You made the right choice in my opinion.
