These appointments came quite late compared to the other appointments, which usually came early in the morning two days before the match was played. The one other exception: Brazil’s second match against Mexico. Officials had been accused of favoritism in Brazil’s first game, including a soft penalty, and had disallowed two onside goals for Mexico. Cuneyt Cakir was announced for
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Today, we saw arguably the best refereeing performance of the World Cup so far … and arguably the worst. Milorad Mazic (SRB), Argentina v. Iran FIFA really loves Mazic (above), that much is clear. I think he’s usually a pretty good referee, but I haven’t been quite so enamoured of him as they are. He was a bit hit or
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Saturday’s games will feature two repeat referees and one we have only seen as a fourth official: New Zealand’s dreamy Peter O’Leary. Argentina and Iran have Milorad Mazic. The Serb is very well thought-of around FIFA, though I thought his original outing (Germany v. Portugal) was rather hit or miss. One of the best referees I’ve seen in the tournament
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Over a week into the tournament, we finally get our first glimpse at England’s Howard Webb (above). I wouldn’t even call it a showpiece, pitting as it does Colombia against Cote D’Ivoire. The biggest game of the day (which Webb could obviously not take) would probably be Uruguay v. England. Uruguay pretty much must win to have a chance at
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FIFA has put up short YouTube videos of each of the center referees who will participate in the World Cup in Brazil beginning this Thursday. They’re pretty fascinating and a great way to get to know these men who will have such an impact on the tournament. The referees themselves are pretty adorable. And because I know you’re dying to know,
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Here are the referees for this weekend’s MLS matches. There’s also a Wednesday match this week, April 16. Saturday Toronto FC vs. Colorado Rapids REFEREE: DAVE GANTAR AR1: Philippe Briere AR2: Richard Gamache 4TH: Justin Tasev Montreal Impact vs. Chicago Fire REFEREE: JOSE CARLOS RIVERO AR1: Daniel Belleau AR2: Scott Kachmarik 4TH: Drew Fischer Philadelphia Union vs. Real Salt Lake
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How’s that for sensationalistic headlines? It was supposed to be a quiet weekend for Howard Webb. All he had to do as the fourth official at Hull City v. Newcastle was to stand around, looking intimidating. (As he does.) Unfortunately, all that training as a policeman had to come into play, because Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is just a crazy
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One of the biggest matches is Sunday between AC Milan (still a threat despite their ninth place position) and league leaders Juventus. The call-up for this is a bit of a surprise: Marco Guida (above). Guida is one of the younger up and comers in Italian refereeing, and recently attended a UEFA seminar for the first time. He’s very talented
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Here are the referees in Serie A for this weekend, February 22-24. Chievo and Catania will be a fairly big game, considering that the two teams are fighting to avoid relegation. Daniele Orsato, one of Italy’s top-rated refs, will handle that one. League leaders Juventus will take on mid-table Torino, refereed by top Italian ref Nicola Rizzoli (above) and his
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Well, well… Just when I was readying the torches and pitchforks after Manuel Pellegrini blamed Manchester City’s loss on Sweden, Martin Demichelis comes out with this: I think Demichelis was put in an impossible position, and he’s just not strong enough to cover Lionel Messi. But I do admire him for accepting responsibility and not taking the child’s way out
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 