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I saw that same footage and took away something very different. A ref and player chuckling in the vein "ooh.. that was a close one, best watch yourself, har-har

I saw that same footage and took away something very different. A ref and player chuckling in the vein "ooh.. that was a close one, best watch yourself, har-har." To imply the two had some sinister conspiracy is being a little silly. But it's interesting that such different conclusions can be made by interpreting only body language, since there was no audio. Also, I don't know if the player and ref even spoke the same language, body language might have been all they had to communicate with.

aptimpropriety 16y ago
I think first and foremost it was incredibly inappropriate for the ref to be talking about the play with the player. But here's a description of what I saw: -Ref inquisitively looks at Fabiano, pointing to his arm -Fabiano jokingy shakes his head, smiling, waving his hands in front of himself -Ref laughs, points to his chest incredulously as if indicating that is in fact what made contact with the ball For me, given the deliberate pointing, this interchange was pretty clear. Even if he did mean something along the lines of what you said, it's terribly inappropriate to do something that could even be interpreted that way. A 2-1 score is VERY different than a 3-1 game, and nobody would deny that the Ivory Coast was attacking strongly through the finish. I know if I were on CIV, I'd be livid the ref was fraternizing with the other team, perhaps because they're brazilian superstars.
- bbatsell 16y ago
  I'd read somewhere a few months back that FIFA had asked its refs to ask players if they see a possible handball but aren't personally sure, spurred by Thierry's uncalled handball against Ireland (the one that caused all of the outrage a while ago because it kept Ireland out of the World Cup), which Thierry freely admitted to. I think the hope was that most players would be honest in that situation (since it's pretty clear-cut to them and upon replays).

aptimpropriety 16y ago

I think first and foremost it was incredibly inappropriate for the ref to be talking about the play with the player. But here's a description of what I saw: -Ref inquisitively looks at Fabiano, pointing to his arm -Fabiano jokingy shakes his head, smiling, waving his hands in front of himself -Ref laughs, points to his chest incredulously as if indicating that is in fact what made contact with the ball For me, given the deliberate pointing, this interchange was pretty clear. Even if he did mean something along the lines of what you said, it's terribly inappropriate to do something that could even be interpreted that way. A 2-1 score is VERY different than a 3-1 game, and nobody would deny that the Ivory Coast was attacking strongly through the finish. I know if I were on CIV, I'd be livid the ref was fraternizing with the other team, perhaps because they're brazilian superstars.

bbatsell 16y ago
I'd read somewhere a few months back that FIFA had asked its refs to ask players if they see a possible handball but aren't personally sure, spurred by Thierry's uncalled handball against Ireland (the one that caused all of the outrage a while ago because it kept Ireland out of the World Cup), which Thierry freely admitted to. I think the hope was that most players would be honest in that situation (since it's pretty clear-cut to them and upon replays).