Tottenham Hotspur’s Robbie Keane was controversially sent off in a 3-2 defeat by Birmingham City on Sunday after the referee appeared to consult his fourth official, sparking a fresh debate over the use of video evidence.
Keane had scored both goals as Tottenham led 2-1 but at 2-2 was shown a straight red card by Phil Dowd for a tackle on Fabrice Muamba. In most people’s eyes it was a yellow card at worst.
Television pictures showed Dowd talking into his microphone with fourth official Uriah Rennie in the seconds before dismissing the Spurs striker. Dowd has said he was only informing Rennie of the decision.
Rennie did not use a television monitor to review the challenge, but if a referee is going to consult him in some way, why not have a quick glance?
Isn’t it about time fourth officials were given a proper job to do other than patrol the technical area with an added time board?
Had Rennie watched the incident on a screen he probably would have told Dowd just to book Keane.
Last week Reading’s Stephen Hunt got away with a thigh-high, studs up tackle on Manchester City’s Gelson Fernandes. A quick look on a monitor and Hunt could have paid the full price immediately.
Tottenham will appeal but once again another big decision has cost a club dear. Without Keane, Spurs fell apart and their miserable season shows no sign of improving.
Martyn Herman, London
PHOTO: Tottenham Hotspur’s Keane is shown red card by referee Dowd against Birmingham City during their home Premier League match, Dec. 2 REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
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4 comments so far
The general argument is that we don’t want play turning into NFL or something, where play is constantly non-stop. However, I feel something needs to be done.
I don’t know if it would be a good idea to bring in the sort of rule they have in tennis - where players can ask to see a replay over a decision three times in a match and nothing more.
If the fourth official could look at a monitor, as you said, then play could go on (so that it is not stopping) while they assess the decision. This would be useful with things such as the ball going over the line etc.
As with the Robbie Keane incident, if it is a big matter such as a red card then the referee should be able to look at a replay. We always hear that ‘they have a difficult job’ so why not make it easier?
- Posted by Hammers Betting Blogger“Referees are only human”. True; however, the “human” erorrs that are made by the Premiership’s refs lead to uneccessary offsides, disallowed goals, wrongly allowed goals, bookings, etc…and more recently, uneccessary red cards as with Robbie Keane.
The fact is that these errors cost Premiership teams games and priceless points. No one is asking the Premiership to become, like most US sports, a “stop-and-go” sport, as the game still needs to be as entertaining as possible with a non-stop flow.
The way I see it is if refs are now equiped with ear pieces and are taking time out to speak to fourth officials (as Keane’s case), then why not adopt similar approach to that of cricket and rugby, where refs can confirm these kind of decisions via a “5th ref” or an action reply screen to give the correct decision. That way teams can win, lose or draw fairly.
- Posted by CurtisIt certainly would not have held up Sunday’s game up for more than 20 seconds….technology can only have a limited role though because in football, unlike in tennis and cricket, there is not always a natural break in play. But in the case the game has stopped anyway, liek with Keane’s red card, it would have been easy….
- Posted by martyn hermanWhenever a player is sent off there seems to be a long wait while the referee backs towards the touchline (or wherever), talks to his assistants, tells jabbering team mates to go away, calls over the offending player and says a few words before pulling out the card. There was certainly a long enough wait in the Keane incident, meaning there would have been more than enough time for an official to look at TV pictures and say simply, “Benefit of the doubt, mate.” It would not have slowed the game down by as much as a second.
- Posted by Kevin Fylan