Graham Scott

Expert referee correspondent, @TheAthletic @TheAthleticFC
Media professional | Management consultant | Keynote speaker | Former Premier League referee and VAR

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

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[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

“The foul that break Ismael Kone’s leg, committed by Qatari midfielder Assim Madibo, was a reasonably bad one - but not horrendous.

“However, it was announced on Wednesday by FIFA that he is to be banned for five games, up from the initial mandatory one game.

“It smacks of FIFA trying to make an example of a relatively low-profile player that they knew wouldn’t be a factor in the remainder of the tournament.

“Similar fouls have happened without the consequences being so dire, for both the tackler and the tackled.

“Hopefully Qatar will appeal and the decision will be reversed. But as things stand, FIFA have reacted to the outcome of an incident, rather than the incident itself.”

✍️ @NickMiller79

Free to read: https://t.co/cY3WPBSOPJ

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@VARTribunal The offside offence was after Konsa’s tackle on Prince, not before

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

A day with FIFA's World Cup referees:

▪️ Reviewing 'most debated decision at World Cup' so far - was it right?
▪️ Competition for matches but cameraderie and chants for fellow officials
▪️ Local teams hired to mimic countries' style of play in training
▪️ Private chef, physio and games room on site

📝 @Dan_Sheldon_

🔗 https://t.co/UDikLKjbUf

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@henrywinter Do you want consistency or common sense here?

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@spurscc @TheAthleticFC Sorry - thanks for raising. I’ll investigate

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

France were *literally* denied an obvious penalty so yes, I can imagine this scenario

[John Mulligan @Mulliganj]

Feel for the Scots on this one. Two genuine penalties and none given for #Scotland
Dreadful calls by the referee and where was #VAR? Could you imagine what would happen if that was France or Argentina? Wonder what #FIFA’s explanation will be for this?

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

'Any player who encroaches at a penalty is plain daft, as we just discovered.

'If the kick is saved and a defender then gets involved, the kick is retaken.

'If an attacker enters the box too soon and affects the play, he immediately concedes a free kick.

'Being on the line at the moment the ball is kicked counts as being inside, which many players do not know.

'This was the correct call and could easily be costly to Croatia.'

📝 @Refsplaining

England vs Croatia — World Cup live blog: https://t.co/EVbWAJQWdS

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@MarkGough439290 @HACKETTREF They did both in those days. The other assistant was David Hutchinson, who went on to referee the Liverpool v Arsenal title decider at Anfield in ‘89 and last I heard is still going strong

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@johncrossmirror Nothing beats the look and feel of the printed page

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@stprogs Scored a penalty in front of the #stfc fans at The Manor in a 1-0 win ❤️

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

"On first viewing, it appeared that Sadio Mane wiped out Kylian Mbappe in the penalty area and that France should be awarded a penalty.

"It looked the same on the second, and the third."

Former Premier League referee Graham Scott (@refsplaining) took a dim view of referee Alireza Faghani's decision to not give France a penalty for Sadio Mane's challenge on Kylian Mbappe...

https://t.co/JYtdrehOQu

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

This is Alireza Faghani’s fourth World Cup. One terrible decision does not mean he has not earned the right to be there https://t.co/8UD5o7hWHS

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

In 2023, Thomas Tuchel called Clement Turpin a “1/10” referee.

So no prizes for guessing which official has been given England’s World Cup opener against Croatia.

Ex-Premier League referee Graham Scott (@Refsplaining) analyses what made Tuchel so enraged, Turpin’s reputation in the game - and what the German is really like to officiate.

https://t.co/XorQ8KwSZV

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

Correct. People always presume that VAR will deliver better, correct, more consistent decisions. Then they are confronted with the reality of outcomes they don’t like and bemoan VAR’s existence

[Daisy Christodoulou @daisychristo]

I was on 5 Live on Thursday talking about VAR and the World Cup. I predicted that all the new innovations might sound good but there would inevitably be unintended consequences that would annoy everyone...

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

Tim Ream’s yellow card in the United States’ 4-1 win over Paraguay was reversed on Friday — an example of the new law changes introduced at this World Cup.

Premier League referee Graham Scott says it was an important moment — because it set “three clear precedents which are unlikely to be reversed — and will lead to even more reviews in the future”.

📝 @Refsplaining

🔗 https://t.co/pVQMI1s6VV

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@FutOffsides No it’s not. I’ve literally operated the system. You’re wrong

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@andylindsay1878 @HACKETTREF RefCam is not available to VAR, only the cameras being used by the broadcaster during live play. RefCam is only released after the event

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@JezClein I agree completely

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

Let’s discuss…

[The Athletic | Football @TheAthleticFC]

From @Refsplaining: Why do we send players off for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity?

I’d rather see the referee award a penalty, regardless of where the offence occurred, as that would re-institute the opportunity that had been denied.

Maybe then, players like Cesar Montes might not bother committing such heinous fouls in the first place and put greater faith in their goalkeeper, who is more likely to prevail in a one-v-one than from a spot kick.

Free to read: https://t.co/gLLg5ZiqmQ

[Graham Scott @Refsplaining]

@JanAageFjortoft Come off it @JanAageFjortoft - in match 2 there was one yellow card, in the 96th minute. Will you be tweeting that the refs have gone soft and need a ‘get tough’ pep talk?!