Koman Coulibaly is a name which most of us aren’t familiar. In fact, we probably won’t remember it even after the 2010 World Cup has finished. Simply put, for the next couple of days, Coulibaly will be known as the referee who called a phantom penalty against the United States when the team scored on a direct kick in their match versus Slovenia. Down 2-nil at the beginning of the second half, the U.S. squad unfathomably rebounded with goals by Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley. In the 86th minute, the team suddenly struck the dagger into Slovenia with Maurice Edu’s goal off Donovan’s free kick. But it was not to be, as Coulibaly called a foul…not on Slovenia — whose team member was giving Bradley a FIFA-endorsed Heimlich during the play — but on the U.S. Video evidence proves the call was bogus — so much so, in fact, that FIFA is mulling suspending Coulibaly from officiating for the rest of the tournament.
From ESPN.com:
After the match, Donovan said he asked the referee what the call was but did not get an answer.
“We asked the ref many times what it was or who it was on and he wouldn’t or couldn’t explain it,” Donovan said. “I don’t know what to think of the call because I didn’t see any foul, just a normal free kick and a goal.”
Referees must submit a written report to FIFA after each match, but it is not specified in the rule that he must fully explain a ruling such as this.
FIFA refereeing rules state: “The referee shall hand over to the FIFA general coordinator a match report at the stadium immediately after the match. On the report form the referee shall note all occurrences such as misconduct of players leading to caution or expulsion, unsporting behavior by supporters and/or by officials or any other person acting on behalf of an association at the match and any other incident happening before, during and after the match in as much detail as possible.”
The U.S. team has been besieged with questions why soccer referees don’t publicly explain controversial decisions, as umpires and referees do in U.S. sports.
I take a rather harsh stance when evaluating referees. You know, it is all they do. They attend the seminars and classes to get better, but at the end of their 5-hour work day, their job description is still defined as being a fan with a whistle. While we shouldn’t crucify one to represent the whole, calls such as this are simply inexcusable.
The part that confuses me is that there’s no accountability in FIFA. If the U.S. ends up missing the knockout round, fans may never get an explanation, per FIFA’s outdated protocol. That’s just the way it is. Well, the way is infantile.
Coulibaly needs to go, and take some time to fully understand what’s expected of him as a World Cup official. And yes, I’ll say this as fair-weather soccer fan. Because it matters now.
