A&H

Didn't see it

R

Robert King

New Member
When you don't see something, say a handball, and players appeal and want a penalty. Do you say so? Or will you act as if you are 100% certain that it was not a handball....?

I was wondering about your experiences, for me personally, I tend to just truthfully say so right after the incident. Something of the sort like: I couldn't see it

9/10 times the players understand and stop yelling, however not always..
 
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Or just shout "play on", or, "keep going". Let's them know they're not getting anything without you having to admit to not seeing it, which may be a figment of their imagination anyway......
 
Sometimes the nature of an appeal - the fact that multiple players all appeal for the same thing at the same time when my view was momentarily blocked - makes it obvious that I've missed something.

In those circumstances I never insist that I saw it and thought they were all wrong. I might just wave play on and not discuss it. If I suspect they are right I might say that I didn't see it, or couldn't see it, and if I missed something, sorry. I'll never see everything: deal with it.

The admission that I am not a perfect ref followed by a friendly but firm reminder than I am nevertheless in charge normally does the trick. It's better for match control than insisting you're right no matter what, imo.
 
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My alternative to "I didn't see it" is usually "it didn't look like [a foul/a handball/it] from my angle". Essentially the same thing, but suggests you've made a concious decision, rather than just chickening out because you're not sure.
 
Had it a few weeks back ball over the line 18 players in the box couldn’t quite see 100% if it was over so just said view blocked couldn’t see it sorry.

It’s all circumstances really all depends on the situation if half the pitch is appealing for a decision I would put 2 & 2 together and say they’re prob right so I wouldn’t go against that I’d just say I didn’t see it sorry.
 
I think the atmosphere of the match will decide how I approach that.

Generally, I'll be honest, if I missed something I'll say so. Some players will accept that, the rest can talk themselves into the book. If a game is more tetchy, I'll do as Minty says and just do the whole 'play on' thing.
 
Just be honest, "didn't look like a foul from my angle", "unintentional handling in my view", etc. Players may not agree with you, but it is a better option that saying nothing.
 
I think it really depends on a lot of things. Either way, they're looking at you to make a decision. A loud shout of 'No!' and the 'grass cutting' hand signal helps sell it.
Hopefully that's the end of it. Sometimes you may need to explain your decision after - and that may be 'all I could see is his back' or 'your teammate had completely blocked my view, I couldn't see it'. Sometimes the 'I'm only human' approach works well. Sometimes it doesn't.
 
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