Match Officials for 2013 Gold Cup released

CONCACAF has revealed the complete match official roster for this year's Gold Cup comprising 15 referees and 15 assistant referees that will be observed by six referee observers during the next three weeks in the United States.

A busy summer for Salvadorian Joel Aguilar (c) GETTY

Referees
Joel Aguilar - El Salvador - 02/07/1975 *
Elmer Arturo Bonilla - El Salvador - 22/10/1978
Marcos Brea - Cuba - 10/04/1975
Courtney Campbell - Jamaica - 16/11/1968
Armando Castro Oviedo - Honduras - 15/11/1983
Hugo Cruz Alvarado - Costa Rica - 22/07/1982
David Gantar - Canada - 27/06/1975
Mark Geiger - United States - 25/08/1974 *
Jair Marrufo - United States - 17/06/1977 *
Walter Quesada - Costa Rica - 09/05/1970
Marco Rodríguez - Mexico - 10/11/1973 *
Héctor Rodríguez - Honduras - 13/09/1982
Javier Santos - Puerto Rico - 10/12/1978
Jeffrey Solis Calderón - Costa Rica - 23/05/1974
Enrico Wijngaarde - Suriname - 11/01/1974

Assistant Referees
Eric Boria - United States - 28/10/1974 *
Philippe Brière - Canada - 06/11/1979
Graeme Browne - St. Kitts & Nevis - 28/04/1977
Joe Fletcher - Canada - 10/09/1976 *
Sean Mark Hurd - United States - 09/11/1971 *
Octavio Jara - Costa Rica - 03/09/1981
Hermenerito Leal - Guatemala - 09/02/1972
Ramon Ricardo Louisville - Suriname - 19/10/1970
Ricardo Morgan - Jamaica - 30/01/1972 *
Garnet Page - Jamaica - 19/01/1971
Marcos Quintero - Mexico - 21/04/1973 *
Christian Ramírez - Honduras - 23/01/1988
Marvin Torrentera - Mexico - 25/02/1971 *
William Torres Mejía - El Salvador - 22/02/1975 *
Juan Francisco Zumba - El Salvador - 19/09/1982 *

CONCACAF Referee Observers
Donald Campos - Nicaragua
Stanley Darville - Bahamas
José Francisco Ramírez - Mexico
Neftali Recinos - El Salvador
Donald Wilbur - United States
Luis Yero - Cuba

*pre-selected for 2014 FIFA World Cup

Referee Designations for U-20 World Cup Quarterfinals

These are the first provisional referee designations made by FIFA for the quarterfinals of 2013 Under-20 World Cup. Thanks to Árbitro Internacional as usual.

Mexican Roberto García (c) mediotiempo

06 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Rize
France - Uzbekistan
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha De Matos (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Emerson De Carvalho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Blog Observer: Chefren (ITA)

06 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Bursa
Uruguay - Spain
Referee: Roberto García (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: José Luis Camargo (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Morín (MEX)
Fourth Official: Walter López Castellanos (GUA)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Blog Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

07 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Kayseri
Iraq - Korea Republic
Referee: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Bakary Papa Gassama (GAM)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Angesom Ogbamariam (ERI)
Blog Observer: Nur H. (ENG)

07 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Istanbul
Ghana - Chile
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Fourth Official: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Gábor Erös (HUN)
Blog Observer: Philipp S. (GER)

UEFA has selected U-19 Euro Match Officials

UEFA has unveiled the complete match official list for 2013 Under-19 European Championship finals in Lithuania to be played from 20 July to 1 August.

Felix Zwayer of Berlin, Germany (c) siol.net

Group A: Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Lithuania
Group B: Serbia, Turkey, Georgia, France

Referees
Emir Alečković (Bosnia & Herzegovina), 14/08/1979
Orel Grinfeeld (Israel), 21/08/1981
Aleksei Kulbakov (Belarus), 27/12/1979
Michael Oliver (England), 20/02/1985
Martin Strömbergsson (Sweden), 01/04/1977
Felix Zwayer (Germany), 19/05/1981

Assistant referees
Dermot Broughton (Ireland), 25/10/1985
Mubariz Hashimov (Azerbaijan), 19/02/1981
Michael Karsiotis (Greece), 10/03/1979
Stelios Nikita (Cyprus), 26/11/1975
Derya Oguz (Denmark), 02/03/1975
Leif Erik Opland (Norway), 17/05/1980
Nikola Razić (Montenegro), 16/12/1979
Mitchell Scerri (Malta), 16/06/1982

Fourth officials
Gediminas Mažeika (Lithuania), 24/03/1978
Sergejus Slyva (Lithuania), 01/10/1980

Special good morning quotes

For others you maybe ordinary, but for me you are special. You are like the sun which brings bright light. There is only one sun, it is special and no other can take its place...just like you.
~ Sherman Josh

Special good morning quotes

Make a resolve this morning to keep a good attitude and a sweet smile. As you move through the day make sure that you plant seeds of goodness in the hearts of those you meet.
~ Victor Tram

Don't compare yourself to the hundreds that you see
or have met. You are different and though even you may not be able to understand it, remember that you are not the same as anyone else but are special.
~ Tim York

Let go of the things that are holding you back. Your mind and your thoughts are priceless. Don't let space and time go to waste thinking about thoughts that are unimportant. Good Morning!
~ Senna Lopez

Good things come to those who think, speak and act on productive things. Aim higher, do something special and sure enough you will see good things happening to you.
~ Phil Motion

Play along to the rhythm of life and when you have a chance gather a choir of friends and create a beautiful melody of love. Life is precious and must be used to create happiness and joy.
~ Colin Tall

As the morning is passing away you may trip once or make a few mistakes but that means nothing. You just need to hold your head up and learn from new falls and mistakes. They are making you wiser. Good day!
~ Maple Samba

All through the day as you meditate on good things, challenge yourself to do something new. Follow your passion and let this day be a start to a happy life ahead. Good morning!
~ George Otis

Next page: Good morning quotes and sms

How to turn tough times into good mornings?
Every one goes through tough times and we all have to make it out alive and well in order to continue living. It is normal to have thoughts of sadness the first thing when you nwake up. But then you can also change it with sheer control. At the beginning it may be difficult but you can heal quickly if you wish to.
All you need to do is replace negative with positive thoughts. This is not a one off thing and you cannot expect everything to change in one shot.
You need to do this steadily and then you will find that you can come ut of pain faster than you expected.

Hope you have a good morning!

Next Page: Have a good morning my friend

Kuipers and the "DOGSOs"

Apart from the fact that Brazil taught the world a lesson concerning how to beat the unbeatable World Cup champions Spain, this Confederations Cup final furthermore featured an impressive amount of tight and demanding situations for the match officials and specially for referee Björn Kuipers of the Netherlands.

Piqué was dismissed by Kuipers (c) kurier.at

A detailed review of the officiating team's performance will ensue in form of a report written by one of our observers, but three key incidents can be already analyzed now.
They all refer to Law 12 (Fouls and Misconducts) - Denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO).

Therefore, it might be useful to expose the exact definition of DOGSO in the Laws of the Game first.

"Referees should consider the following circumstances when deciding whether to send off a player for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity:
- the distance between the offense and the goal
- the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball
- the direction of the play
- the location and number of defenders
- the offense which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity may be an offense that incurs a direct free kick or an indirect free kick"

It must be clarified that, similar to handball offenses, all these criteria have to weighn up mostly within very few parts of a second by the referee. Even one criteria can be enough to support the referee's decision and back him. It is however also clear that some of those criteria can be considered as more relevant than others, which depends on each single situation.

Incident 1, minute 15.

Spanish defender Arbeloa clearly pulled and held Neymar's kit for a while having been the "last man". Björn Kuipers only issued a yellow card. Splendid onside call by assistant referee Zeinstra.

No other defender could have intervened. The deep forward pass made by a Brazilian midfielder went towards the goal. The infringement occurred 45 metres away from the goal and the likelihood of gaining and then keeping control of the ball was very, very low - despite Neymar's admirable football abilities. He would not have reached this ball probably. For this reason, at least two of the four criteria that come into question for this specific scene unequivocally support the referee's decision. In this particular case, specially the criteria regarding the likelihood of controlling the ball seems to be the most striking and relevant one.

Incident 2, minute 28.

Sergio Ramos of Spain clearly fouled Brazilian Oscar in a quite clumsy but of course tactical way. Oscar was running towards the goal and had a good chance to reach the ball. On the other hand, the angle and position of the incident do not support the term "obvious goal-scoring opportunity" in my opinion. Furthermore Spanish defender Piqué could have intervened as he was quite close. This call really was borderline and "more red" than in the previous incident. However, in dubio pro ref, meaning that one may support Kuipers also in this decision.

Incident 3, minute 68.

Somehow, it was clear that there would be a red card in this game as Kuipers had twice resisted the very severe protests by the home team and crowd (point of criticism here: he really should have punished the Brazilians for those protests). Spanish defender Piqué stopped Neymar on his way into the penalty area potentially facing goalkeeper Casillas in a 1vs1 situation. It is quite clear Kuipers sent him off for DOGSO and not for serious foul play. The distance between the offense and the goal was quite small, Neymar surely would have stayed in possession of the ball as no other defender could have immediately intervened. Thus the only doubt might arouse regarding the fact that Neymar slightly moved away from the goal. However, again the decision made by the referee can be totally supported and understood.

In a sum, Björn Kuipers faced three challenging DOGSO situations and, from my point of view, should be praised for his assessment of them. Specially the first incident exposes a storybook example of how to deal with such situations.

U20 World Cup - Round of 16 - Referee Designations

According to Árbitro Internacional, FIFA has designated these refereeing teams for the Round of 16 of Under-20 World Cup 2013 to be played in Turkey.

Carlos Vera of Ecuador (c) ZIMBIO

02 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Istanbul
Spain - Mexico
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Fourth Official: Sandro Ricci (BRA)
Blog Observer: Chefren (ITA)

02 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Gaziantep
Greece - Uzbekistan
Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Claude Birumushahu (BDI)
Fourth Official: Néant Alioum (CMR)
Blog Observer: Philipp S. (GER)

02 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Istanbul
Nigeria - Uruguay
Referee: Milorad Mažić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Dalibor Djurdjević (SRB)
Fourth Official: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Blog Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

02 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Gaziantep
France - Turkey
Referee: Alberto Undiano (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez Del Palomar (ESP)
Fourth Official: Víctor Carrillo (PER)
Blog Observer: Chefren (ITA)

03 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Kayseri
Portugal - Ghana
Referee: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Blog Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

03 July 2013, 17:00 CET - Bursa
Croatia - Chile
Referee: Walter López Castellanos (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Gersón López Castellanos (GUA)
Fourth Official: Roberto García (MEX)
Blog Observer: Edward A. (GRE)

03 July 2013, 20:00 CET - Trabzon
Colombia - Korea Republic
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Fourth Official: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)
Blog Observer: Nur H. (ENG)

03 July 2013, 19:00 CET - Antalya
Iraq - Paraguay
Referee: Roberto Moreno (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Williamson (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Fourth Official: Peter O'Leary (NZL)
Blog Observer: Edward A. (GRE)

What's behind the amendments of Law 11

During the last weeks, the world's football governing body FIFA announced that the offside rule would be changing from 1st July 2013 targeting at the aim to simplify the definition of passive offside for the match officials, players and also supporters.

The press has widely managed to confuse football fans around the globe with wrong descriptions and analyses of those amendments, so that even UEFA referee committee member Herbert Fandel stated that "this medial hype was fully unnecessary". But how do these changes exactly look like? Those aspects which have been added or changed are written in bold letters.

Current version

New version effective from 1st July 2013

In the context of Law 11 – Offside, the following definitions apply: (…) ·         “interfering with play” means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate ·         “interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent ·         “gaining an advantage by being in that position” means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a goalpost or the crossbar having been in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position

In the context of Law 11 – Offside, the following definitions apply: (…) ·         “interfering with play” means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate ·         “interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball ·         “gaining an advantage by being in that position” means playing a ball I) that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position II) that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage.

Interpreting these amendments, one has to clarify that they are only changes "on the paper". In fact, nothing has really been altered, the definitions "interfering with an opponent" and "gaining an advantage by being in that position" have merely been specified. Following the old form of Law 11, the assistant referees had to assess whether an action by a defender who e.g. deflected the ball had been deliberate or not. This led to some confusion not only within the refereeing team. FIFA has now differed between "deliberate saves" by a defender (offside) and defenders who "deliberately play" the ball (e.g. a return pass, no offside here). Furthermore, FIFA's goal surely was to clarify what is meant by a deflection or rebound.

The following two videos can additionally function as explanations for the amendments I and II of the definition "gaining an advantage by being in that position".

In this UEFA Champions League match between Schalke 04 and Arsenal FC, Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud received a long pass by one of his team-mates which was "deflected" by Schalke defender Joel Matip having been in an offside position when the ball was played. Italian assistant referee Renato Faverani did not raise his flag though. Taking into account the new rule, it becomes clearer why. First it must be clear that Matip did not unintentionally deflect the ball by his header. He clearly went towards the ball with intention and thus deliberately played the ball: 'A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage.' Additionally, Giroud did not press Matip, he did not challenge him. Assistant referees do not have to care about the question of whether Matip's action was successful or not, the intent to do so was deliberately made and this is what it is all about.
For this reason, it is no offside offense.

Same goes for the next example taken from 2010 World Cup 1/8 final match between Germany and England, where Uruguayan Mauricio Espinosa took a correct offside decision, as Rooney gained an advantage by being in that offside position despite a deflection of a defender. A totally correct decision under the old rule and but a wrong one taking into account the new instructions.

Rooney did not make pressure on the German defender and hence did not challenge him. The touch the German defender made with the ball was intentional, he therefore deliberately played the ball. Offside in 2010, no offside starting from 1st July.

A quite current and for sure the easiest example for what is meant by a rebound occurred at this month's Confederations Cup in the match between Italy and Brazil.

Assistant referee Bakhadyr Kochkarov unfortunately missed this offside position. Dante, having been in an offside position, got the ball from a deliberate save and a rebound off the goalkeeper. Thus, his passive offside position became clearly active.

Now an example for what is meant by "challenging a player". Jan-Hendrik Salver correctly raised his flag for offside in the World Cup 2010 match between Slovenia and England.

Slovenia's player #11, having been in an offside position (the deflection at the English wall is to be considered as undeliberate), challenged the English goalkeeper so that it became an active offside offence due to interfering with an opponent.

FIFA moreover attached several exemplary videos at their amendments of the Laws of the Game that can be found on José García Aranda's website.

All the videos posted here are only for educational and not for commercial purpose.