MLS turns to video to help refs
League tries to address phantom fouls increasingly influencing the outcome of games
The technical term for it is “simulation.”
The more common term, one used by coaches and fans across Major League Soccer, is one that would turn church ladies’ ears a rosy red or get a sports reporter fired should it get published.
The problem is, MLS referees haven’t developed the skill to detect simulation from reality — or perhaps they are living in their own reality — making officiating a weekly topic in almost every market.
It’s one that frequently surfaces in Vancouver. In fact, twice in their past four home games, the Whitecaps have been victimized by blatantly wrong penalty kicks in the late stages of the game.
Against D.C. United on May 27, Jose Guillermo Ortiz — a player who had been fined just two days before by the MLS for simulation — tumbled to the ground as if Kendall Waston had executed an MMA leg kick. Replays revealed he hadn’t even been touched, but referee Sorin Stoica pointed to the spot, and DCU went on to win 1-0.
Wednesday against New York City FC, Waston was again punished, this time after his bandaged hand brushed Thomas McNamara’s face. The New York midfielder then grabbed his face in anguish before sending his knees in the face of Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted, but it was Waston who was carded by Baldomero Toledo, leading to David Villa’s penalty kick goal.
“I think I’ve used it before — it was an awful decision,” said Caps coach Carl Robinson, who, indeed, used the same adjective to describe the D.C. United PK.
“It’s easy for me to say now, I think Mr. Toledo is one of the better officials in the league. I believe that. But it’s never a penalty. I said to him afterwards it’s not a penalty.
“You have to be right in these key moments. You can’t give it if you’re not 100 per cent sure. It’s hurt us twice now.
“Humans make mistakes. So I’ll accept that. But when it affects games, there’s jobs on the line … I was disappointed.
“Does it make it right because we won? No. It’s got to be better.”
While the league has been content to pass the buck to the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) — the organization that supplies officials to pro soccer leagues across the United States and Canada — the increasing profile of dubious penalties and incorrect calls has spurred them into action.
Whether it was clips of exasperated coaches ranting at press conferences, or fans turning off the TV after being turned off by games being unduly affected by the refs, or merely the league recognizing its product needed to be improved across the board, the MLS is in the process of incorporating Video Assistant Referee (VAR) into the process.
Howard Webb, a FIFA and English Premier League veteran, and one of the game’s most respected officials, has joined the PRO to manage the VAR program. He’ll be responsible for training 50 officials in the fledgling technology, and helping raise the standard of MLS referees.
“I think there will be a lot more questions than answers,” said Robinson, who added he’d been part of some positive meetings with Webb in Chicago.
“I’ll leave it to the experts to deal with that. But we need to get it right. Fans pay their hard-earned money to watch good football. Was (the game) affected today? Yeah, maybe. As a coach, as a home fan, you can’t have that every week.”
It’s not just the penalty kicks that have been so infuriating for fans. Fredy Montero was taken down by a harsh tackle from New York’s Yangel Herrera in Wednesday’s game, but Herrera collapsed in a heap when Montero confronted him, mimicking the effects of a head-butt perfectly. Again, there was no contact, but Montero received a yellow card.
“That’s going to end as soon as we have the video replay,” said Montero. “That’s something that’s going to help the game. Because sometimes that call can change the game. Even a yellow card, a red card, or a penalty kick like the one that we had today. “It’s out of our control.” The VAR has been tested in pre-season and the Confederation’s Cup, with the goal of implementing it in early 2018 in domestic leagues and the World Cup in Russia.
So far, the only complaints have been that it disrupts the normal game flow — NFL fans know all about endless replays and challenges — but the general perception is, if it cuts down on incorrect calls, it can only help.
“The disruption of the game can be annoying, but I also think there’s a lot more at stake,” Columbus Crew midfielder Will Trapp told the Columbus Dispatch.
“We’ve been on both sides of it, I would say, but we’ve definitely been on the losing side of some calls that if VAR was there, it may not have gone the way it did.”