Unfortunately, there have been numbers of wrong judgments made by referees in the J. League this season, and they caused big arguments. Although there have been as many “excellent judges” made by the referees at the same time, these calls are never getting discussed….

On 10 August, during a fixture between Kashima Antlers and Yokohama F. Marinos on Matchday 22 of the J1. League, a spectacular call was made by the referees in the 11th minute of the second half.

The scene came from a left corner kick delivered by Kashima, where their defender BUENO sent a header back into the mix. Following a sequence of goalmouth scramble, Kashima’s forward DOI Shoma struck the ball into the net. With Kashima already leading 1-0, it seemed like the decisive goal. However, after stopping play by blowing his whistle, referee KOYA Koei ran up to one of his assistant referee MAJIMA Shuichi.

While some approaching, the two referees kept the players at a distance to discuss the play. Following their conversation, referee Koya gave an explanation to the fourth official KABASAWA Junichi before returning to assistant referee Majima and requested him to raise the flag to signal for offside. With this call, the play was ruled as no-goal.

No one in the stadium or watching the game on TV understand what just happened. Even after watching the replay, Doi seemed completely onside.

Assistant referee Majima was the key person in this occasion. When Bueno delivered the header into the mix, he recognised that Kashima’s forward ITO Sho was in an offside position. It was just the striker’s left foot that got him in an offside position, but assistant referee Majima clearly saw his white shoe was nearer to the goal line than the opponent’s last defender. However, what he couldn’t see was, which player touched the ball when Ito and Yokohama’s defender HIROSE Rikuto collided. If the ball was touched by Hirose, Ito will not be called offside, so the assistant referee held his flag down at the moment.

After Doi sent the ball into the net, assistant referee Majima communicated to referee Koya about the incident. While keeping the players out of their conversation, the two confirmed that Ito was offside at the scene. The decision was made because referee Koya confirmed that he clearly watched Ito touch the ball when he clashed with Hirose, which was the one angle assistant referee Majima couldn’t confirm from his point of view.

The decision took about two and a half minutes. The most impressive thing about this decision is that the two referees kept their composure to exchange information while organising the entire situation. Without seeing the actual replay footages, they must organise every little detail in their head to make the right decision. It was truly a class act by assistant referee Majima, for his pinpoint precision to recognise Ito’s foot stepping out of the offside line and his decision to keep the flag down until sufficient information was available to him. The management skill showcased by referee Koya was also outstanding, as he integrated the information gathered from his assistant referee to make the correct call.

There was another factor that made this such a wonderful scene. When the two referees gathered to discuss the scene, players from both sides crowded them, but after referee Koya demanded to clear the space, the players did what they were told and left the referees alone. The whole process was made possible with the support of the players as well.

In many cases like this, we often see players getting in the way of the referees’ conversations. However, their presence will only disturb the referees from holding a constructive conversation.

The calls on the field is not always made by one person. In some occasions, all four officials will gather pieces of information to make a single call. In order to make the correct call, they must firmly communicate with each other. When the referees are holding a conversation, the players must respect their efforts and give them sufficient time and space to reach the right decision.

The offside call should have disappointed Kashima players. But, the right decision, made by the excellent skill and cooperation by the referees, must be welcomed by any player.

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” September 2019 edition.

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