......should they be allowed? FF appears to have been a victim of a bad 2nd yellow decision only this week, which of course got him sent off and in turn will earn him a one match ban. So should clubs be allowed to appeal against 2nd yellow cards! What do you think?
I might be wrong, but I don't think clubs can appeal a sending off that has resulted from 2 yellow cards?
What difference does your addition make to what you originally said The fact remains that currently there is no possibility of an appeal if a player is sent off as the result of a 2nd yellow, unlike if it were a straight red, which seems unfair to me, especially as 2 yellow card offences are arguably less serious than a straight red offence.
It's because they don't want teams picking over things continuously. Although frustrating a one game ban is pretty minimal in its impact to club or player and probably 90% of yellow cards are subjective anyway. The criteria for appealing straight red cards is pretty high anyway - there's no taking a punt or hoping to get away with something.
Are the cards regulation issue or can the ref make his own by cutting out and painting a cornflakes box?
Do the cards have printed clearly on them 'This is not a credit or debit card'? Online security issues if not?
Has a ref ever inadvertently grabbed the wrong cards before a game and brandished a Blockbuster Video card at an offending player?
They really ought to be able to be appealed I reckon. Dawson (to his great credit) admitted to the cameras that he caught FF as he went through, so the 2 game ban he'll get now is completely unfair. Yellows add up on the totting up process too, so when they're given wrongly they can quite easily lead to an unjust ban. I'd allow yellow appeals, but double them (on the totting up) if they're found to be justified and the appeal unwarranted.
On another note, why do players get sent off for brandishing the refs card to the ref if he drops it? Do refs need a sense of humour bypass or is the player breaking some law by even picking the card up?
And where does the resource come from to run this appeals process? How many yellow cards are given in an average weekend? I'd have to guess at least 100, probably nudging 150 most of the time. How many are disputed? It would be carnage. Players just need to man up. Plus there's a bit of a commentator's myth creeping into the debate here. Contact is irrelevant to whether a foul is/isn't committed. Likewise a dive can happen subsequent to clear contact from an opponent. It's not black and white and it's not as simple as saying he caught him so it was a foul and therefore not a dive. I've not seen the FF/Dawson incident so I'm talking in general.
I can't imagine this kind of appeals process is too resource-heavy. Surely you wouldn't need more than a few people and clubs to provide all available footage? Certainly wouldn't cost a huge amount (relative to the amount of money in the game), assuming only the yellow cards which lead to red cards are to be included. I'd imagine the reason it hasn't been introduced is because the rules for giving a yellow card are pretty open-ended, giving the referee a lot of discretion so he can decide how best to manage the game. If a foul goes unpunished fairly early in the game (which isn't unusual), clubs could easily reference that sort of thing to get one of theirs rescinded. Red card offences are somewhat less subjective.
A simple solution would be for the referee to view video footage of any yellow card offence that has been appealed and let him either confirm his decision or rescind it if he feels he has made a mistake. I also think Clive's suggestion of doubling it to 2 yellows on the totting up system for rejected appeals, plus the players club would be responsible for any costs involved.
And in situations where there are 3 days between games, there is rarely more than one halfway line camera at stadiums and the referee has a life and day job to go back to? How do we fit those in? Or ensure the review is effective? Why the constant need to replay every decision?
Not being able to appeal a red that has come from two yellows seems a bit outdated now. In the case of FF though, his reputation is very much the issue for him. He has always loved a dive.
You can appeal yellow cards in Spain. I remember Ronaldo successfully appealing one for diving (I think it was last season) so he didn't have to serve a suspension for totting up. They seem to manage ok without their whole system crashing through the intense pressure of a panel sitting down to watch a couple of minutes of footage of a few contentious decisions. As for Forestieri, ex-ref Keith Hackett thinks that both yellows he received in the last two games for diving were incorrect, something I thought as soon as I saw both incidents. http://you-are-the-ref.com/hacketts-blog-referees-must-be-certain-of-simulation/
It still surprises me that there are so few full-time professional referees. Make it a job as serious as being a footballer, with a rate of pay that reflects their importance to the game, and you're going to attract a better standard of referee.
With modern technology the ref could have any footage that is available sent to him in seconds, and he could review it almost as quickly. Therefore 3 days between games does not come into it, and as for his life and day job, we are only talking about a few minutes of his time. Plus if there is no video evidence available that would support an appeal, then obviously the ref's original decision would stand. Furthermore nobody is asking for every decision to be replayed, only those that a club is not happy about. Not forgetting that frivolous appeals would be punished by adding an additional yellow card to the totting up system and charging the club costs.
Personally I think Zola quickly knocked it out of him and only since the Sakho red card (which was wrongfully rescinded imo) has he constantly been accused of diving. I'll even say he's been brought down every time or (as on at least one occasion) has slipped and then been booked for simulation, his quick feet, speed and stature means he gets fouled a lot but his poor reputation is bringing him unwarranted punishment. Many fouls that look innocuous in slow motion often can easily upend a quick player at full pelt.
