We're 10 minutes into the cup match and the game is progressing nicely.
Ball goes out of play and the club assistant, doing his job properly,
points his flag in the direction of the throw. I'm watching play from
about 20 yards away and suddenly, from behind me, I hear "Lino you're a
cheating c**t."I turn around to look at four defenders and a goalkeeper.
It's obvious to me that the shout came from 50 yards away rather than
15 and that it's 99 percent certain that - for some unknown reason - the
goalkeeper has screamed out the abuse that would normally earn him a
straight red card.
But I didn't show him a red card. In fact I
didn't even show him a yellow. The reason? I didn't see him shout the
unpleasant curse. Although I was virtually certain it was the goalkeeper
who shouted the abuse, I could not, hand on heart, say with absolute
certainty that it was him. At an appeal hearing, the first thing the
panel would say would be; "well referee, did you see the player shout
abuse?" And the answer would have to be 'No.'
The goalkeeper
didn't fall for the method that occasionally works. "What did you call
him?" He'd been around too long for that, so I had to settle for a
reprimand. The opposing team and manager were, of course, outraged and
wanted to know why I had not taken any action. "If I can't see it I
can't give it," was my response. I'd have liked nothing better than to
have kicked the foul-mouthed 'keeper off the pitch, but couldn't.
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