Officials off the pace in first week of World Cup

If one disallowed goal in 2010 led to the biggest innovation in the game since yellow cards, then what we saw in the opening week of the 2014 FIFA World Cup has the potential to spark even more sizeable commotions.

While Frank Lampard’s wrongly dismissed effort could be blamed solely on the absence of goal-line technology, this time around there will be no escape for FIFA following four wrongly denied goals in only nine games.

Amidst the whirlwind of controversy that surrounded Brazil going into the opening match, FIFA would have been pleasantly surprised by the optimistic start to the tournament.

In a nation that positions football as mightier than the Lord, the fierce protests and tales of corruption that had circulated the news for weeks on end were silenced in the Arena Corinthians. Some 63,000 fans had travelled to Sao Paulo for this game, and there was never any chance that politics were to be any sort of obstacle for the football.

Eleven minutes in and a Marcelo own-goal later, signs emerged that the calm before the storm may have been coming to an end. Brazil’s preparations for this day had been 50 years in the waiting, and in a moment the nation’s volatile state, ferocious anticipation and tremendous expectation threatened to collapse upon itself.

The home nation celebrated a 3-1 victory. But while Brazil partied, the game would leave a bitter taste in the mouth for some.

Before his emphatic brace, Neymar was lucky not to see red for an early elbow. And no matter what Croatia did, it seemed they could not get any satisfaction.

Referee Yuichi Nishimura, beneath the roar of an authoritative Brazilian crowd, flagged Croatia 21 times in a highly controversial 90 minutes. In a game where Brazil needed the perfect start, a seemingly blatant Fred dive was awarded with a penalty to send Brazil 2-1 leaders, and then a late prospective Croatian equaliser was dismissed with little cause at all.

FIFA were in need of a perfect start to hush accusations and a victory would have equally raised spirits for Brazil, so you can’t help but question the result. From the own goal onwards Nishimura seemed intent on giving Brazil everything that was needed for the fairytale beginning, but this discoloured what should have been a historic win.

In hindsight, the game looked almost scripted.

This match was not the only one to be poorly officiated. The goal disallowed by Nishimura was the first of six so far in the tournament, and the first of four to have been wrongly adjudicated.

Goal-line technology may have almost banished any controversy over the crossing of the line, but seven of the eight disallowed have been ruled out due to offside.

Adjudicating on offside has never been straightforward, but rather than have the expected result of alleviating pressure on linesman and officials, in the games HawkEye has been present we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of incorrect linesman decisions.

In Mexico’s Group A clash with Cameroon, Giovanni Dos Santos had two goals disallowed for offside. Not only were both decisions wrong, but a brace would have seen Dos Santos go top of the goal-scorers standings and gift Mexico with an invaluable goal difference. This highlights the importance of getting it right at such a high level.

The problem was present beyond Group A. Further linesman failures were prevalent in the game between Ecuador and Switzerland, where Josip Drmic was flagged despite being clearly onside in the 71st minute. Like Mexico, Switzerland were able to recover and score a winning goal in the later stages of the game, but it cannot be long until a team is denied a goal and doesn’t have such luck.

The goal-line technology debate first peaked when England had their would-be equaliser ruled out against Germany in the knockout Stages of 2010. This is a reminder of how if the levels of officiating aren’t improved imminently, then a result with rivalry and meaning and pride hinging on it could be denied.

Luckily for FIFA, none of the decisions have thus far impacted the game and stolen victory, but this doesn’t not mean that the levels of officiating have been anywhere near acceptable for a major tournament. With goal-line technology implemented idealistically to end all controversy over decisions and results, it looks as if they are no closer to reaching their goal.

This may be a result of poor officiating standards, and it may be the pressure and heat of operating in Brazil, but on such a special occasion this is even more of a reason for them to improve their game. From a grassroots level upwards finding quality referees is a challenge, and this is something that, if the events of this week have any repercussions in the future, will need to be acted upon.

Perhaps the pressure we put on officials is a factor that has led to this lack of consistent performers at the top level, but you can’t tame pressure. Better foundation for referees is already desperately need from the lower levels to the peak of football, but if an event on the same scale as the Lampard decision happens in the coming weeks then action from FIFA to improve the general standard of refereeing will be unavoidable.

And with World Cup referees coming from across every footballing continent, only long-term, universal action will eradicate the issues we are seeing.