CRICKETS AND KETTLE DRUMS

The bpisports.com column WHERE THE GLASS IS ALWAYS HALF-EMPTY

#9 - AFRICONNED

BY TREVOR W. RILEY

JULY 2, 2010

The officiating at the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been suspect. Whether it be the phantom foul on the Maurice Edu no goal v. Slovenia, the Clint Dempsey offside call v. Algeria, the Frank Lampard goal that wasn't v. Germany, or the Carlos Tevez offside goal v. Mexico, the FIFA referees have generally left a bad taste in a lot of fans' mouths.

Which was the worst? None of the above.

The most egregious gaffe of the 2010 FIFA World Cup occurred when the referee actually made the correct call according to the rules; which is where the problem lies. Uruguay's Luis Suarez was red-carded in the 120th +1 minute of extra time in their quarterfinal match v. Ghana after hand-balling Dominic Adiyiah's goalward header like he was Kerri Walsh defending a ferocious spike at the net. Literally, if Suarez doesn't use volleyball tactics against that header, it's clearly in the net with virtually no time left; Ghana wins 2-1 and moves onto the semifinals to face the Netherlands. If only.

Instead, the referee properly ejects Suarez, awards a penalty kick to Ghana which Asamoah Gyan misses, and Uruguay goes on to win on penalty kicks 4-2 (1-1 at the end of regulation).

To those of you that will say or think that Gyan should have taken a better penalty kick in extra time, I say that he should have never had to take it in the first place.

In the NFL, a safety (2 points) is awarded to the defensive team if the "offensive team commits a foul and spot of enforcement is behind its own goal line". They also have a Palpably Unfair Act rule whereby a referee can award a touchdown if an "unfair play" improperly denied it from otherwise happening. What call would NFL officials have made on the Adiyiah header? Replay too, perhaps?

Soccer needs a Palpably Unfair Act rule of sorts to properly account for situations like these. There arguably isn't a worse infraction than a handball preventing an obvious goal, especially in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, in the waning moments of extra time. Unfortunately for Ghana, they now head home because soccer's/FIFA's answer to a goal line handball is just another, more difficult chance, instead of awarding a goal. And they want Americans to further embrace the world's beautiful game? Ghana het beroof.

Well that's a wrap for column 8, episode 9 of CNKD. If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or other feedback, feel free to send them along via email to cnkd2010@aol.com. There's 9 down and 999,991 to go. Peace.