Week in Review #74 (April 25, 2025)

Last week, you received four clips to think about if each situation qualified as SPA and if the referee’s decision was a CRE. We will review each of them below.

Clip 1 – Even if we assume there was a foul (it is possible that the black defender fairly played the ball), this was not a promising attack. Two seconds before the foul, another challenge had already slightly slowed down the speed of the white player (a minor point). By the time the foul occurred, the black player had significantly slowed down to maintain possession of the ball (a major point). At the moment of the foul, the attacker was no longer trying to move forward. He was trying to avoid the defender by going to his right. The speed had significantly slowed down before the foul. When you couple this observation with the fact that Black #5 and #22 in position to defend and that there still was long distance to go, this does not meet the threshold for a SPA. Not issuing a caution for SPA, therefore, was correct. Giving a caution for SPA, on the other hand, would have been incorrect.

Clip 2 – Similar to Clip 1, before the foul, the speed of the attacker had slowed down. However, without the foul, he would have regained the possession of the ball with wide open space in front of him. Additionally, his teammate, #20, was creating a second option for him. Therefore, this was a SPA. Not issuing a caution was incorrect and should be labeled as a CRE.

Clip 3 – Despite a somewhat cynical nature of the offence, this is not a promising attack. Speed is lacking. A lot of white players were between the foul and their own goal. The reasonable attacking option was limited to the teammate in the center circle. Issuing a caution for SPA would be incorrect. A correct decision was made by the referee.

Clip 4 – We only see a third of the field. So we cannot be definitive as coaches. But it means we mark the caution as correct. Furthermore, white was overloading (remember this concept from the preseason session?) their attacking third. They were trying to get back to their own half when the black team was in a counterattack mode. The attacker had space and options. The referee correctly issued a caution here.