Referee (football)

Each match is controlled by a judge who has all the rights and responsibilities below to ensure compliance with the Rules of the Game in the match to which he is assigned.

Responsibilities

The judge must:

• keep track of the game and record the events of the match;
• ensure that the balls used comply with the requirements of Rule 2 ;
• ensure that players' equipment complies with the requirements of Rule 4 ;
• in case of bleeding, the player must ensure that he leaves the field. A player can return to the field only with the permission of the referee, who is convinced that the bleeding has stopped;
• ensure the absence of unauthorized persons on the field;
• provide the relevant authorities with a match report that includes information on all disciplinary measures taken regarding players and / or team officials, as well as on all other incidents that occurred before, during or after the match.

Rights

The judge has the right to:

• stop, temporarily interrupt or stop the match in case of any violation of the Rules;
• stop, temporarily interrupt or stop the match with any outside interference;
• to stop the match if, in his opinion, the player was seriously injured, and ensure that he leaves the field;
• continue the game until the ball leaves the game if, in his opinion, the player has received only a minor injury;
• continue the game when the team against whom the offense was committed, benefits from such an advantage (for example, stays with the ball), and punish the original violation if the team did not use the intended advantage;
• to punish the player for a more serious violation of the Rules in the case when he simultaneously commits more than one violation;
• take disciplinary measures against players guilty of violations punishable by warning or removal . He is not obliged to take such measures immediately, but must do so as soon as the ball leaves the game;
• take measures against officials of teams that behave incorrectly, and may, at their discretion, remove them from the field and areas adjacent to the field;
• act on the basis of the recommendation of his assistants and the reserve judge in relation to incidents that remained out of his sight.

Judges decisions on the facts related to the game are final. The referee can change his decision only if he understands his fallacy or (at his discretion) upon the recommendation of his assistant or reserve referee, but on condition that he did not resume the game and did not stop the match.

Court errors

Both small and large (influencing the outcome of important football matches), referee's errors ^{[1] [2]} constantly occur. So, at the 2006 World Championships, referee Graham Poll forgot to remove the player after the second yellow card ^[3] , and at the next World Championships, referee Jorge Larrionda did not count Frank Lampard's clear goal ^[4] .

The judges often do not forgive mistakes in decisive matches. Due to slow replays, it is easy for fans to see the judge’s wrong decision ^[3] . For example, in one of the matches of the 2002 World Cup , Turkish national team player Hakan Unsal hit the Brazilian Rivaldo in the leg, and he began to hold on to his face. Unsalu was shown a red card, but after seeing the moment after the match, Rivaldo was fined for simulating £ 5,180 ^[3] .

Due to the high complexity of decision-making by judges and, as a result, by frequent mistakes, the issue of allowing them to use technical equipment was repeatedly raised - for example, it has been done in basketball for a long time. To relieve the most critical cases - when playing in the penalty area and taking the gate - UEFA in 2012 introduced additional judges behind the goal, and in the 2013 Confederations Cup and starting from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, heads Starting with the World Cup in Russia and the Confederations Cup in 2017, the VAR video replicator system has been used.