You are the Ref, well, the Assistant Ref anyway

[david3103]

I missed this last week

A quick run through some of the stories you might have missed...

Al Ahli defender Salmin Khamis shepherds the ball out of play, picks the ball up, throws it to the keeper for a goal kick and...



At least that answers the question of what happened to the linesman from Spurs v Man City.

Watch carefully and decide, did all of the ball cross all of the line?

[Doobs]

I watched this last week and thought the whole ball wasn't over the line.

 I assumed that it was just my phone that made it look like the whole ball wasn't over the line, otherwise the decision looked ok. 

[DungBeetle]

Watford had a goal at Brighton chalked off a few seasons ago when the ball appeared to be over the line (i.e. you could see grass between the ball and the goal line, but due to the shape of the ball I assume if had goal line technology the middle of the ball probably wasn't over.

[Tal]

The problem is a ball is round: the defender in the video will have seen that there is grass between the line and the ball. The lino will be looking down the line and a part of the ball overlaps the white paint in the air.

Click to see full-size image.

Here, Gomes's post-blunder efforts for Spurs against Chelsea (remember them?) were held to be in vain, but there seems to be an overlap there.

It's too easy to say "play to the whistle" of course; the defender with a winger up his backside will hardly turn to see what the lino reckons before taking action.

[david3103]

Watford had a goal at Brighton chalked off a few seasons ago when the ball appeared to be over the line (i.e. you could see grass between the ball and the goal line, but due to the shape of the ball I assume if had goal line technology the middle of the ball probably wasn't over.

The middle of the ball could be over the line but the ball still in play.

[DungBeetle]

I meant the edge of the ball half way up was perhaps not over the line. 

[david3103]

I meant the edge of the ball half way up was perhaps not over the line. 

I see what you meant now

I think Rugby, and Cricket have a better rule on this issue. In both, the ball (or a player in contact with the ball)only has to touch the line, or the extended plane of the line. Football's all of the ball over all of the line seems to offer wider scope for debated decisions.