Question:
In the on-line comments that I read concerning the controversial call that denied the United States a third goal in the US — Slovenia World Cup game, I found the following statement:
“You have another ref in the press box watching the replay and he relays the correct call to the main ref via microphone. Side line refs are told not to call anything on close plays like this and if it is offsides the goal is taken away quickly after the upstairs ref reviews the replay. This could have taken seconds.”
Is this statement, or any part of it, accurate? It seems contrary to everything I have understood concerning who has the power to make decisions about play and under what circumstances.
USSF answer (June 18, 2010):
The ways of referees are mysterious. There was no flag from the lead AR to indicate a foul or any other infringement. Yes, there was a fifth official assigned to the game, but he was sitting on the bench behind the fourth official and could not have seen the action in the Slovenian penalty area any better than the fourth official and did not communicate anything to the referee.
While some national associations have conducted tests with the sort of system you describe, this system is not being used in this World Cup. The person who posted the comment you cited is ill-informed.
