Opinion – Marcelo Damato: Ball did not go into goal in Japan, but in Brazil there is controversy

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One of the most controversial moments in refereeing this Cup is the debate on whether or not the ball went out in Japan’s second goal against Spain, on Thursday (1st), a move that defined group E.

The image seen from above shows the ball minimally over the line. The image from the side of the same moment shows a clear distance between the point of the ball resting on the ground and the goal line. What’s it worth?

The rule says that the ball needs to go entirely over the line to be out (or in goal). It says nothing about dribbling on the line, as in tennis or volleyball.

The top image shows that a part did not pass. The side image only shows that the center of the ball has passed. Soon, the ball did not come out. There shouldn’t be any controversy. But, in Brazil, it exists. This decision violates national beliefs about the application of the rule.

The point is that soccer referees in Brazil manipulated (and still manipulate) the rules, applying them in a distorted way. Since neither the public nor, unfortunately, a good part of specialized journalists, knows the rules in detail, the assistants prioritize “tradition” over the rule.

He doubts? This is the message I received this Friday (2) from someone I’ve known for 60 years and who has been passionate about football since he was born.

“(The offside) until, I think, the 70s, it was simple and clear. An attacking player could not receive a ball in the position between the defense and the rival team’s goalkeeper. But after they changed the rule for the moment of release and not the receipt… then it complicated a lot.”

But the rule never changed. What has changed is the way referees whistle and commentators analyze in Brazil. For decades, the moment of receiving the ball was what counted. The situation was only corrected once and for all in the 1990s, when the TVs hired former referees to analyze their colleagues.

On the issue of the ball out, the mistakes continue to this day. Whenever the center of the ball barely passes the sideline, the narrators ask for the ball out, even though they are in a totally unfavorable position. And the assistants, as if they can hear, raise the flag. And the center of the ball is not in the rule.

Simply put, if the ball is lying on the ground beyond the sideline or baseline at a distance smaller than its radius (distance from the center to the surface), it is still inbounds. And the radius of the ball is 11 cm, roughly speaking.

But why do referees and assistants whistle wrong? To avoid controversy. Countless times generated by commentators. And used by club leaders.

Want another example? For decades, Globo refereeing commentator Arnaldo Cezar Coelho, who directed the 1982 World Cup final, advocated that the referee should give minimum additions or end the game before the end of the added time “so as not to get into trouble”.

According to this vision, which is still very strong in Brazilian arbitration today, complying with the rules is often “wanting to be more realistic than the king”.

Technology has helped Brazil to (almost) clearly understand the law of impediment. Perhaps he will be able to convince us that also in the matter of the ball out, what counts is what is written.

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