Where does refereeing at FIFA tournaments go?
The ref is not the man he used to be...
... as there was a shadow hanging over him. This shadow of the missed red card was heavily haunting him afterwards as his control of the game slipped and his authority severely suffered. Obviously, FIFA does not like refs to dismiss players unless it is absolutely necessary and to book only if the game gets completely out of hand. Jara ellbowed Werner on the outside line with a swing of an ellbow which even in Rugby terms would have been a swinging arm to the head resulting in a sending off. He looked on the screen and after long three minutes produced a caution.
The first 60 minutes
Mazic started strong, cool and in control. For 60 minutes, he was absolutely on top of things. He whistled quite often, but eased all upcoming tensions with Serbian seriousness and stern looks which are characteristic for him. He doesn't talk to players, but he handled the Bayern brawl with Kimmich and Vidal quite nicely with two bookings.
Video Assistant Referee versus Team Match official (TMO)
The video assistant referee system was supposed to help the official by avoiding mistakes when in doubt. How it worked at this Confed cup it has rather shaken the credibility of refs decisions. The procedure is not clear, the protocol seems confusing, it takes forever and the final results leave often more question marks than answers. Why not learn from Rugby who use team match officials for quite some time: The ref decides if he wants to refer the scene, he watches the scene on the big screen and asks the TMO what his recommendation is. The public hears the discussion. The ref calls the culprit and the two captains over, explains in two sentences what will happen and why and everything is clear. For the Video assistant referee, we need three officials, two technicians and still the teams bully the real ref for every push to look on the big screen. FIFA has to clarify the protocol and to strengthen the authority of the field ref if they don't want to lose control over the match completely.
Control issues
Towards the end, Mazic lost the grip on the game. The second half was bad and not a lot of football was happening. Germany hold on to the lead and physically to the ball as Can fell on top of it and wouldn't give it back. Mazic looked fluffy in view of the turn of events with Chilli complaing over every decision and Germany only trying to delay things. Sadly, he crumbled in the last 30 minutes after a good start.
The next WC
I fear that the next WC will be as in 2014. Refs trying to avoid controversial decisions, keeping cards in the pockets and being lenient just for political reasons. Other comment: Some refs were out of their depth at the Confed cup and sank completely. UEFA officials were not flawless, but better than most of the rest. Some African and AFC officials have some serious control issues to sort out in my opinion.