Regensdorf, June 24: The head of UEFA's referees committee said on Monday he was against the idea of following rugby's lead and allowing spectators to hear a match official explaining his decisions during a match.
Euro 2008 has seen several incidents where refereeing decisions have bamboozled supporters and soccer pundits but referees chief Yvan Cornu believes rugby-style public announcements by the referee would be of little benefit.
"In rugby, where the laws of the game are harder to understand, I think it's a good idea," Cornu told Reuters at the Euro 2008 referees' headquarters near Zurich. "It helps the public and they are keen to listen and understand.
"In football I would say the rules are more simple. Difficult decisions are more a matter of opinion and I'm not sure that explaining them would therefore really help."
The most notable example of confusion at the tournament came during Netherlands' 3-0 Group C win over Italy when Swedish referee Peter Frojdfeldt allowed a goal that had appeared blatantly offside to most commentators.
The following day UEFA backed the referee, explaining that Italy's Christian Panucci had kept scorer Ruud van Nistelrooy onside even though the defender was on the ground behind the byline after a collision with his own goalkeeper.
"That incident was perhaps the one situation where it might have been useful if the referee had been able to instantly explain the rule," said Cornu. "But the explanation was given in any case by UEFA the next day.
"In most situations that are more about opinions there will always be people in the crowd with a different opinion to the referee. In cases like that I think an on-pitch announcement could actually cause more controversy."
Other confusing events at Euro 2008 included the joint sending off of Germany coach Joachim Loew and his Austrian counterpart Josef Hickersberger during the Group B game on June 16 with both men seemingly unsure why they had been dismissed.
Five days later, bemused fans watched as Slovakian referee Lubos Michel showed a red card for a second offence to Russian defender Denis Kolodin in their quarter-final with Netherlands only to withdraw it after talking to his linesman.
There was some speculation the second booking had been rescinded due to the ball having gone out of play, although this should in fact have no bearing on the sanctioning of a player.
UEFA later said the referee had simply been convinced by his assistant that Kolodin's tackle did not warrant a booking.
"On the whole the referee's committee has been satisfied by the quality of refereeing in this tournament," Cornu said. "But one area that we thought could be improved was the cooperation between referees and their assistants.
"In the case of the Netherlands v Russia match, I would say that was a good example of cooperation because they had this conversation and the decision was reconsidered.
"But at the same time better and faster cooperation might have helped avoid the uncertainty that came after the red card was shown."
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 00:00