After injuring my leg last week, I found myself bedridden on Wednesday for the first time since the removal of my wisdom teeth 21 months earlier. Naturally, I decided to do as I had done in 2013 … watch soccer all day. The first instance I had the joy of watching the Confederations Cup, one of my favorite tournaments to watch. Luckily, last week happened to be a Wednesday in mid-March, meaning UEFA Champions League.
Aside from their amazing anthem, the UEFA Champions League features the best teams from Europe and is currently in the knockout stages, featuring a set two game, total goal series. The match I decided to watch was Chelsea FC vs. Paris-Saint Germain FC. The first leg at PSG finished tied at 1-1, leaving all to be decided in West London.
The first half was full of chances, physical play, controversy and a moment of disgrace for Chelsea. The English side’s Brazilian midfielder, fittingly named Oscar, short for Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior, was making a run down the middle. A ball was sent in for Oscar, and a foot race between him and PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimović ensued. The race was close and looked to be won by Oscar. Ibrahimović came in with a strong slide tackle and clipped Oscar, certainly a foul.
However, Oscar decided to sell it, summersaulting, flipping, rolling and eventually writhing on the turf as if his leg was cut off. As his teammates saw this, they crowded around the referee, appealing for a red card, and their wish was granted. Congratulations Oscar, you won your namesake award for your acting.
The saga gets better. Following the game, Ibrahimović addressed the media saying, “It felt like I had 11 babies surrounding me.” Bravo Zlatan, bravo! The usually narcissistic Ibrahimović, who personally, I started to think was hopelessly going overboard with his attitude, simply said what everyone else was thinking.
This isn’t the first instance of crowding the referee in the week, nor was it the last. During MLS opening weekend, the debut of both Orlando City SC and New York City FC was tainted by the constant diving and complaining by NYCFC, leading to three yellow cards on their end and even a red card for Orlando City SC.
Both NYCFC and OCSC surrounded the referee to complain and whine about every bad call or offside violation. It was a game that had so much potential to be the match of the week. But it all went south when the teams began to complain. It was embarrassing for the teams and for the league itself.
Another instance last week is a particularly sour topic for me. It involves my personal favorite European club Manchester City FC. It was a tough weekend all around for City, losing 1-0 at relegation-threatened Burnley FC. That wasn’t the end of the drama for the Citizens. During a controversial foul, Man City crowded the referee trying to influence a decision in their favor.
Midweek, following the Chelsea fiasco, Man City manager Manuel Pellegrini criticized Chelsea manager José Mourinho for allowing his team to crowd the referee the way they did. Pellegrini said he would never allow his team to do that. If so, it would be for one instance during the game with 2-3 players discussing an issue with the ref. After a media war between the league’s top managers, the City incident occurred.
Honestly, it was more embarrassing for me to see this incident unfold than to look at the score line. Manchester City has never been one to throw a fit toward the ref unless a seldom controversial circumstance were to occur. It was a shocking circumstance that was certainly regrettable.
What should be done about these repeated instances? Well, three instances in a week is certainly unbelievable, but it isn’t the first three times this has happened. There are constant issues like this in soccer, even cases where a ref has had to escape the pitch due to such controversy. Something needs to be done about this to increase the safety of the ref.
A suggestion should be the same as they do in hockey. If a hockey player confronts a referee and begins to argue, they are handed a 10-minute misconduct penalty. In baseball, if an umpire gets angry enough with a player or manager for arguing a call, that person is ejected from the game. While such a punishment is impossible in soccer, a simple yellow card for dissent is very possible. Any time a player or group of players crowds a referee to argue, a yellow card should be given.
The referee has made his decision and however controversial or unfair or wrong the decision may be, it was made, and play has to continue. Players can argue and complain all they want, but it won’t reverse the call. If the arguing gets out of hand, out comes a card and the issue would be over. The card should act as a deterrent to players, not to argue over calls. With a yellow card punishment for arguing, hopefully crowding a referee to debate a call will cease.
Daniel Shulman is a sophomore at Boston University majoring in Journalism through the College of Communication. A native of Stoughton, Dan is a sports fanatic who loves everything Boston sports related. He is currently a Sports Hawk at the Boston Globe in the High School sports department. He is also a statistician for both Men’s and Women’s Soccer and Men’s Ice Hockey. Aside from writing, Dan has an interest in music, movies and cooking.
