Official Soccer Thread

[Mad Dog]

some people on twitter were saying how Messi did the same fault earlier on a game and didn't get a red or even yellow card, but USA gets a red card.

Besides playing and coaching competitively until I was 64, I was also an official. Though in accordance with the letter of the law, that play would rarely be a red card. Like in American football when an official calls a rarely penalized , as the announcers say, "a ticky tacky call"....that's what that was. In just about every game, you'd be sending numerous players off if the interpretations was so strict. Soccer is a very physical sport, especially at the world class level.

Bull poop call, in my opinion. Warning or yellow at the worst.

 

[Legacy]

Besides playing and coaching competitively until I was 64, I was also an official. Though in accordance with the letter of the law, that play would rarely be a red card. Like in American football when an official calls a rarely penalized , as the announcers say, "a ticky tacky call"....that's what that was. In just about every game, you'd be sending numerous players off if the interpretations was so strict. Soccer is a very physical sport, especially at the world class level.

Bull poop call, in my opinion. Warning or yellow at the worst.

The call is a good example of the bad side of VAR. In real-time, it’s nothing. At most angles, it’s nothing. At THAT angle, in slow-motion, it’s an ankle-breaker that “needed to be addressed.”

I always found Law 12 way too subjective when it came to “serious fouls.”

 

[Jake S]

The call is a good example of the bad side of VAR. In real-time, it’s nothing. At most angles, it’s nothing. At THAT angle, in slow-motion, it’s an ankle-breaker that “needed to be addressed.”

I always found Law 12 way too subjective when it came to “serious fouls.”

Exactly. We can’t be adjudicating these calls on freeze frames, it gives a totally warped perspective.

 

[Mad Dog]

Exactly. We can’t be adjudicating these calls on freeze frames, it gives a totally warped perspective.

If they'd freeze frame every close physical play during an entire high level match, teams would be playing with 4 or 5 players on the field after over zealous red cards .Guaranteed.

 

[Legacy]

If they'd freeze frame every close physical play during an entire high level match, teams would be playing with 4 or 5 players on the field after over zealous red cards .Guaranteed.

I wouldn’t hate the chaos of that.

 

[Lucky Planet]

The laws of the game are always open to interpretation. Red cards can be given for “serious fouls,” (regardless of intent). The quirk is that seriousness is subjective, and often tied to the result of the foul rather than the foul itself.

Balogun’s red is inconsistent but, by the letter of the law, correct. (Messi is also notoriously protected by refs—the conspiracy is more about Messi than the U.S.)

EDIT - Found this, because it emphasizes the “result” of the foul and its severity. Messi rakes the calf. It’s a foul, that hurts like hell, but doesn’t “look” as bad as Balogun’s foul.

View attachment 30157

Besides playing and coaching competitively until I was 64, I was also an official. Though in accordance with the letter of the law, that play would rarely be a red card. Like in American football when an official calls a rarely penalized , as the announcers say, "a ticky tacky call"....that's what that was. In just about every game, you'd be sending numerous players off if the interpretations was so strict. Soccer is a very physical sport, especially at the world class level.

Bull poop call, in my opinion. Warning or yellow at the worst.

right now right this night the VAR controversy over the croatia offside goal because if you look at the video in slow motion the ball comes like 1 inch close to the player but doesn't touch him.
then the ball bounces of the head of the Portuguese player.
people in the audience were throwing things at the field they were so mad.

I keep looking at the vid and the ball doesn't really touch the player that was jumping.

VAR says that the Croatian player touched the ball but the ball never changes course or anything.

 

[Legacy]

right now right this night the VAR controversy over the croatia offside goal because if you look at the video in slow motion the ball comes like 1 inch close to the player but doesn't touch him.
then the ball bounces of the head of the Portuguese player.
people in the audience were throwing things at the field they were so mad.

I keep looking at the vid and the ball doesn't really touch the player that was jumping.

VAR says that the Croatian player touched the ball but the ball never changes course or anything.

This is “even worse.” They brought in Dr. Joe to explain that, as part of the offside technology implemented this year, the ball has a chip that tracks when it’s touched and by who. THAT is how they determined that offsides.

 

[Lucky Planet]

This is “even worse.” They brought in Dr. Joe to explain that, as part of the offside technology implemented this year, the ball has a chip that tracks when it’s touched and by who. THAT is how they determined that offsides.

I heard about the ball having a chip but then the ball had to have felt hair touching it lol ...maybe it touched a few strands of hair in his head lol

 

[Legacy]

And… they’re reportedly suspending Balogun’s red-card suspension to allow him to play the next game. And, frankly, that pisses me off more than the card itself. The card is either valid enough to stand or not valid enough and should be rescinded.

Folarin Balogun available for USMNT vs. Belgium as red card ban suspended

Balogun was set to be suspended for Monday's game at Lumen Field in Seattle but is now free to be selected.

www.nytimes.com

The last time FIFA did this was to allow Ronaldo to play in THIS World Cup after he received a five-game suspension for elbowing a dude in the face. Basically, FIFA can arbitrarily decide after a match if a team should be punished for a red during the World Cup during the World Cup. It makes the existence of red cards completely irrelevant.

Cristiano Ronaldo red card: Why has Fifa suspended World Cup ban?

Has Fifa given Cristiano Ronaldo special treatment to get the star player to the 2026 World Cup finals, or have we seen this happen before?

www.bbc.com

 

[Mad Dog]

And… they’re reportedly suspending Balogun’s red-card suspension to allow him to play the next game. And, frankly, that pisses me off more than the card itself. The card is either valid enough to stand or not valid enough and should be rescinded.

Folarin Balogun available for USMNT vs. Belgium as red card ban suspended

Balogun was set to be suspended for Monday's game at Lumen Field in Seattle but is now free to be selected.

www.nytimes.com

The last time FIFA did this was to allow Ronaldo to play in THIS World Cup after he received a five-game suspension for elbowing a dude in the face. Basically, FIFA can arbitrarily decide after a match if a team should be punished for a red during the World Cup during the World Cup. It makes the existence of red cards completely irrelevant.

Cristiano Ronaldo red card: Why has Fifa suspended World Cup ban?

Has Fifa given Cristiano Ronaldo special treatment to get the star player to the 2026 World Cup finals, or have we seen this happen before?

www.bbc.com

Just shows it was a BS red card as I said before. Like over zealous officiating in other sports, its wrong. Let them play the game unless it's really over the line play. That wasn't.

 

[Legacy]

Just shows it was a BS red card as I said before. Like over zealous officiating in other sports, its wrong. Let them play the game unless it's really over the line play. That wasn't.

But it doesn’t, actually. If it was a “BS” (ie - illegitimate rather than questionable) red card, they *could* have rescinded it entirely. They’re not. They’re just postponing the punishment. The ruling here is, “the red card is valid, but the popularity of the competition is more important.”

 

[Mad Dog]

But it doesn’t, actually. If it was a “BS” (ie - illegitimate rather than questionable) red card, they *could* have rescinded it entirely. They’re not. They’re just postponing the punishment. The ruling here is, “the red card is valid, but the popularity of the competition is more important.”

It's a compromise to get out of a situation that should have never happened.

 

[Legacy]

It's a compromise to get out of a situation that should have never happened.

Is it though? Or is it standard, run of the mill, FIFA corruption?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/us/trump-fifa-balogun-world-cup.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vVA.xiOm.1aH0zDV9SFO6&smid=nytcore-ios-share

White House lobbied Fifa to lift Folarin Balogun suspension for World Cup game v Belgium

The US striker was shown red in the team’s last-32 match, but the card and its suspension were thought to not be eligible for appeal.

www.theguardian.com

 

[Mad Dog]

Is it though? Or is it standard, run of the mill, FIFA corruption?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/05/us/trump-fifa-balogun-world-cup.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vVA.xiOm.1aH0zDV9SFO6&smid=nytcore-ios-share

White House lobbied Fifa to lift Folarin Balogun suspension for World Cup game v Belgium

The US striker was shown red in the team’s last-32 match, but the card and its suspension were thought to not be eligible for appeal.

www.theguardian.com

Real world. Sometimes pressure creates compromise. ....and FIFA corruption is always a given