Yesterday's top-class match between Euro 2012 finalists Italy and Confed Cup hosting nation Brazil (2:4) will certainly stay in Uzbek match official Ravshan Irmatov's mind as a nightmare. Apart from a not faultless performance of the entire officiating team of Asia, he has committed a rarely seen technical error that could potentially cost him very much credit among FIFA's refereeing department.
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| Ravshan Irmatov could face some trouble (c) terra.com |
It all happened when a corner kick reached Italian Mario Balotelli, who was pulled and for this reason fouled by a Brazilian defender. Irmatov immediately pointed to the spot, awarded a penalty kick which was supported by a whistle. A second later, the ball reached Italian Chiellini, who scored a goal. Irmatov swiftly changed his mind and awarded the goal. His gestures and explanation of his decision to the furious Brazilian players evoked the impression he thought the advantage rule could be also applied after a whistle, which was clearly audible.
Apart from his mandatory departure from this competition after group stage, it must be strongly questioned how a referee, who took charge of five World Cup 2010 matches including the opener match, Argentina - Germany and the semifinal between Uruguay and the Netherlands, can commit such an amateur mistake. One can only hope that this actually great referee, who was honoured by this blog's community as the world's best referee in 2011, will recover from this soon.
Formally, the Brazilian would have had the statutory law to cancel the match. For FIFA, it seems mere luck that there won't be official protests, as Brazil won this match in the end.
In the meantime Ravshan Irmatov has admitted his technical error to the match commissioner and FIFA referee department chief Massimo Busacca, following a statement issued by FIFA's media agent Pekka Odriozola.
By the way, a similar situation occurred in the German Bundesliga in August 1997. Referee Michael Malbranc retired after this match (see video starting from 14:34). Contrary to Irmatov, Malbranc however did not admit his error.
Formally, the Brazilian would have had the statutory law to cancel the match. For FIFA, it seems mere luck that there won't be official protests, as Brazil won this match in the end.
In the meantime Ravshan Irmatov has admitted his technical error to the match commissioner and FIFA referee department chief Massimo Busacca, following a statement issued by FIFA's media agent Pekka Odriozola.
By the way, a similar situation occurred in the German Bundesliga in August 1997. Referee Michael Malbranc retired after this match (see video starting from 14:34). Contrary to Irmatov, Malbranc however did not admit his error.
