2018 World Cup: Referees and video evidence – what the Bundesliga can learn

The World Cup ends Sunday as it began: with a whistle from Néstor Pitana.

The Argentinian is only the second referee in the history of the World Cup to have the honor of leading both the tournament opening match and the final. For him, this nomination is the deserved reward because he has distinguished himself among referees in Russia, not only because of his size and his powerful stature, but it can usually be seen before the final between France and Croatia: convinced of this tournament. Contrary to what happened four years ago in Brazil, when they were criticized from the start, this time they rarely aroused enthusiasm.

The generous line on the match lines, to which Pierluigi Collina, Fifa's referee chief, had sworn, was well received by teams and fans alike. Critical gambling errors were largely absent, thanks in part to video badistants, who helped correct some of the most flawed decisions. What consequences should the Bundesliga draw from referee appearances and video evidence at this World Cup?

What the Bundesliga can learn from the World Cup

• More transparency in the video: The arenas of the Bundesliga no longer have to be left behind in the intervention of video badistants in the dark why a decision is reviewed and changed. This problem did not exist at the tournament in Russia: There, in the stadiums after the completion of the so-called on the field examines those images that were relevant to a decision of the referee, played on the wall of the video. Viewers have even been able to see during a review exactly the video footage that has also been shown to the umpire, supplemented by a written overlay, which is being reviewed. All this should also be possible in the Bundesliga. The fact that the line is better and more uniform when using the video in Russia than in the upper house of German football, on the other hand, is no longer a perceived truth. In the second round of the last Bundesliga season, the threshold of intervention was just as high, and even at the World Cup there was a controversial (non) intervention of video badistants. However, the emotional distance of the spectators in the vast majority of the matches of the World Cup is greater and therefore the vision of the video is sober.

• In offside situations near Tornähe, the referee should not give a signal. but wait until the attack ends. The reason is as follows: if a goal falls, the video badistant can go to the exam and inform the referee if there is a punishable offside. On the other hand, if the flag is raised immediately and the referee interrupts the game, such control is not possible. In other words, if it turns out that the decision of offside is wrong, the chance to score is irrevocably eliminated. This instruction was also valid in the Bundesliga, but it was not applied in such a consistent manner. At the World Cup, they even went a step further: if the badistants had noticed an offside, but their flag had not been raised according to the instructions, they announced late if the Attack did not succeed. This avoided an unslung offside resulting in a corner kick, which should not have happened and after which a goal could fall. Although get used to, but convenient practice.