Unser Chat » decision and a standard call. As a veteran Premier

On this weeks TSNFC podcast we spent a long time discussing the handball decision that effectively ended Vancouver Whitecaps season. Much has been said and written about whether or not World Cup referee Mark Geiger made the right call to penalize Kendall Waston in last weeks playoff match at Dallas, with many differing opinions on the matter. There doesnt seem to be a consensus, although Geigers boss - referees chief Peter Walton - said it was the correct decision and a standard call. As a veteran Premier League referee who now runs the Professional Referees Organization in North America, Waltons opinion should be respected, but the controversy surrounding the decision - and many other handball decisions we see all over the world each week - could easily be avoided if there were a change to the law. In my view, there are two things wrong with the current law. Firstly, the punishment doesnt fairly reflect the size of the crime. Secondly, there is too much room for interpretation of the referee which makes consistency of decisions almost impossible. Here are the main points of the current FIFA Law: Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into consideration: ? the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand) ? the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball) ? the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement Deliberate - done consciously and intentionally I dont think Kendall Waston made a conscious and intentional decision to handle the ball inside the penalty area in the last 10 minutes of a playoff match. In my mind it was a momentary lapse in concentration from the towering defender rather than a deliberate act. In relation to this law, it seems deliberate can also mean a player didnt react quickly enough to move his hand/arm out of the way of the ball. But the fact the law allows such ambiguity means officials are in the spotlight more than necessary whether or not they get the decision right. There must be a better way. Although video replays will certainly assist officials decision making in other areas, in the instance of Waston it wouldnt have made much difference because even with review, the decision would have been made depending on the officials interpretation of the law. One suggestion I have seen is to award a penalty anytime the ball hits a hand or arm inside the area whether it is intentional or not. A clear rule - it doesnt matter how it happens, if the ball strikes the hand, it is a penalty. Theres very little room for argument and interpretation there, but I think it would lead to far too many penalties and also an excessive number of game changing moments. Again, the punishment wouldnt match the offence. New Law So how about this. In order to provide clarity, I would be in favour of a rule change along the following lines: Anytime a player makes contact with the ball inside the penalty area with his hand or arm, an indirect free kick will be given. There is no room for interpretation - if it hits the arm or hand whether deliberate or not, it is an indirect free kick. There is one exception. If a player handles the ball to prevent a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity, a penalty is given. With this rule applied, Kendall Wastons handball would have been penalized with an indirect free kick, still giving the opposing team the benefit of a set piece close to goal but eliminating the need for a referee to award a penalty for an incident that was not going to end in a goal. For me, that far better reflects the size of the infringement and also would remove much of the debate surrounding penalty kicks awarded for handball. Im not na?ve enough to expect that changing the law would eliminate all problems. Im sure in some instances there would still be controversy and debate surrounding what is or isnt an obvious goal scoring opportunity. But I believe it would drastically decrease the amount of times a game is decided by a referees decision and therefore lead to more post-game talk about players instead of officiating – and that can only be a good thing. Custom New York Giants Jerseys . LOUIS - The St. Cheap New York Giants Gear .55 million euros (US$18.6 million) to Spanish tax authorities on Monday to cover any potential irregularities in its signing of Neymar, all the while maintaining its innocence of the fraud charges levied against it. http://www.cheapgiants.com/ .com) - The Memphis Grizzlies signed guard Seth Curry on Tuesday. New York Giants Jerseys Outlet . According to Dave Stubbs of The Montreal Gazette, preliminary talks have begun between Markov - an unrestricted free agent this summer - and general manager Marc Bergevin. Stitched New York Giants Jerseys . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives.BOSTON - The Boston Bruins have plenty of time to develop consistency. For now, scoring in spurts seems to be working just fine.The Bruins scored three goals in a span of 2:34 on Thursday night and rode the third-period flurry to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers that extended Bostons winning streak to four games.Those games arent always perfect, but you like the way your team responds to different situations, coach Claude Julien said. Were down 2-1, instead of panicking we just picked up our game and put our foot on the gas pedal and found a way to get some goals here.A pair of Edmonton penalties helped, and Boston improved to 5-1 since losing captain Zdeno Chara to a knee injury. The Bruins are still adjusting to playing without the big defenceman — and winning while doing it.It took barely 2 1/2 minutes for the Bruins to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead. Louie Eriksson tied it at 2, Carl Soderberg gave Boston the lead 1:25 later and Dougie Hamilton scored just 1:09 after Soderberg.We didnt play a really good game, but as soon as we got that goal we started to get going and I think finished off pretty strong, said Soderberg, who assisted on Erikssons goal with 8:56 left in the third.Soderberg was initially credited with the next two goals, but officials reviewed the video and concluded that Hamiltons slap shot from the point was not deflected in by Soderberg. With a 4-2 lead at that point, the Bruins didnt care much about who got the goal.It doesnt matter. Im just happy it went in the net, Hamilton said. I didnt really look at the goalie..dddddddddddd I knew Carl was in front and I just tried to shoot low. Wherever it went, it went. I didnt even see it go in.Boston won its 13th in a row against the Oilers, who have not beaten the Bruins since Oct. 17, 2000.Tuukka Rask finished with 24 saves for Boston, which also got goals from Reilly Smith and Milan Lucic.Ben Scrivens made 27 saves for Edmonton, which lost its fourth consecutive game.Boyd Gordon scored in the first period and Mark Arcobello deposited a rebound 1:44 into the third to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead.Hamilton and Soderberg assisted on Erikssons goal that tied it, then Soderberg put Boston ahead 1:25 later with a power-play goal off a centring pass from Patrice Bergeron.Bergeron made the pass while being taken down by Edmontons Nikita Nikitin, who was called for tripping on the play. Boston capitalized on the power play again when Hamilton scored with 6:22 remaining.We had a critical mistake off the rush, Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins said. A bad decision, one that cost us and led to the next one as well. Thats a hard one to frame. It goes to the mindset that every moment is critical.Lucic, playing his 500th career game, added an empty-netter with 7 seconds left.Smith scored late in the first to tie it 1-all.NOTES: The teams combined for only 13 shots in the first period. ... Oilers defenceman Andrew Ference did not play against his former team as he sat out the second of a three-game suspension for an illegal hit against Vancouvers Zack Kassian on Saturday. ... Edmontons Iiro Pakarinen made his NHL debut. 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