The 26th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) resumed with Guangzhou City facing Beijing Guoan, Shanghai Port facing Zhejiang, and Wuhan Sanzhen challenging Meizhou Hakka, with red cards being issued frequently in many of the key matches. Sports New Vision invited senior international referee Wang Xuezhi to analyze these controversial penalties.
Guangzhou City vs Beijing Guoan
A controversial penalty: In less than a minute after the start of the game, Guilherme had a physical confrontation with a Guoan player. When Guilherme touched the ball again, Guoan Wang Ziming hooked him down, but referee Zhen Wei did not make a call.
Comment by Wang Xuezhi: Guilherme was hooked down by Wang Ziming, which was an obvious foul. The referee should have awarded the penalty kick decisively. However, the referee's judgment overlapped with the point of contact of the foul and missed the opportunity to award the penalty. What is puzzling is that the referee still insisted on the original judgment after the VAR reminded him in time. How could the referee turn a blind eye to such an obvious foul?
Controversial penalty: In the 54th minute, Cardona broke through with the ball, Guoan Yu Dabao made a mistake in defense, and the referee immediately showed a red card.
Comment by Wang Xuezhi: Cardona was beaten by Guoan Yu Dabao when he controlled the ball, which was a serious foul. At the same time, he also had an intentional handball foul. The referee was right to show the red card.
Zhejiang vs Shanghai Seaport
Controversial Penalty: In the 50th minute, Liang Nuoheng pulled Wu Lei, causing him to fall down in the penalty area. The referee quickly showed a red card and awarded a penalty kick to Seaport.
Comment by Wang Xuezhi: Wu Lei utilized his speed advantage to control the ball into the penalty area and gained a clear scoring opportunity. The defending players kept pulling during the chase, causing Wu Lei to fall to the ground. The referee was right to show a red card and award a penalty kick. If the point of contact of the foul was inside the penalty area, the referee would have awarded a free kick directly.
Wuhan Sanzhen vs Meizhou Hakka
Controversial Penalty: In the 30th minute, He Chao grabbed Meizhou Hakka's foreign aid Vukanovic, and the two hugged each other. Vukanovic swung his elbow and knocked down He Chao, after VAR intervention, referee Wang Di showed a red card and He Chao a yellow card.
Comment by Wang Xuezhi: Both sides had sustained pulling action during the competition. During the continuous foul, the angry Vukanovic resorted to retaliatory violence and the referee was accurate in showing the red and yellow cards. It should be noted that the first time He Chao pulled his opponent, if the referee had awarded the foul in time, the signs of foul play could have been completely nipped in the bud.
Changchun Yatai vs Hebei
Controversial penalty: Hebei was awarded a penalty kick in the 37th minute. Pan Ximing's penalty kick was parried by the Changchun Yatai goalkeeper. Changchun Yatai then launched a fast attack and scored. During the celebration, the referee signaled that the goal was invalid and that the penalty kick needed to be repeated due to an early movement violation by the Yatai goalkeeper, and finally Gao Huazhe hit the penalty kick.
Comment by Wang Xuezhi: During the penalty kick, the referee focuses his main energy on observing both players, especially the goalkeeper, to see if there is a violation. The referee's eyes and gestures are focused on observing whether both players enter the penalty area early, ignoring the goalkeeper's fouls. As a rule, the referee may delegate this task to the assistant referee. Upon seeing this, the assistant referee should immediately raise his flag to remind the referee of the goalkeeper's offense. Coincidentally, the Ateneo keeper launched a fast break and scored after getting the ball. The referee did not receive the VAR prompt until the goal was scored. With this reaction, the referee still lacks enforcement experience and needs more honing.
In this round of matches, whether it is missing a penalty kick or correcting a penalty kick violation, we can clearly see that the basic skills of the referee are not solid enough. Lacking the ability to recognize movement and the basic awareness to observe fouls on both sides, it was difficult to meet the demands of the game, and the VAR's extraordinarily long delay in correcting errors fragmented the game. Imagine how it feels for the home crowd filling the stands to see you take back the home team's goal on the opposing team's goal and allow the opposing team to re-do the penalty kick.
Referees are a team, each with their own responsibilities and need to work with each other. Your thinking and perception determines your ability to call a penalty. Since the referee blew the whistle, everything should be explained in a timely manner, every call should be made promptly and decisively, and every conflict has a way to be resolved. Every incident should not be delayed. These are instant, quick decisions with a shaky foundation, and it's not easy to work hard and make the right decision. Now, there are a lot of smart people, but very few reliable ones. The referee must be a reliable person.
It can be seen that the brain is the commander of the referee's enforcement, the mind is the concentration of the spirit of the rules, and the rules are the basis of the penalty. After varying degrees of exercise, referees gain varying degrees of training in understanding the spiritual nature of the rules, like spices, the more you mash them, the thinner you grind them, the stronger the flavor. By the time you've gone through years of training, you're strong enough.
