In the Rennes-Villarreal rush (100-odd minutes) there was a strange play with a local goal that would have meant 3-3. The Turkish Atilla Karaoglan conceded it, but the Italian Massimiliano Irrati, from the VAR, warned him of his mistake, and he annulled the goal. So Villarreal won 2-3 and returned so richly, first in the group and directly qualified for the round of 16. This time, a point in favor of the VAR.
The question was: the rennais Le Fée launched a direct free kick, the ball bounced off the crossbar and without anyone touching it, it returned to him, who started the attack with Avignon's final goal. The referee's error arises, Iturralde pointed out to me, from his poor positioning. Instead of being to the side, with good vision, he was very centered, according to the recent silly slogan of abandoning the old diagonal, so he saw the barrier but not the thrower. That's why he didn't realize that the one who collected the rebound was the same one who took the foul. The VAR guy did, because he had the overview. The crux of the matter is that whoever puts the ball into play in a foul, penalty, throw-in, corner, or goal kick cannot touch it again until a teammate or rival has done so. It happens sometimes in penalties, I never saw it in a free kick, but the principle is the same, and older than the black thread.
If I bring this up it is because I was surprised by the reaction of many friends and colleagues to the fact, which gives an idea of a long oversight regarding the Regulation. Something that, like everything, has its causes. Some time ago people had more affection for him, almost devotion. Every so often a new edition of the Commented Regulations by Pedro Escartín, referee in the prewar, then commentator and disseminator. It was a kind of missal for fans. We liked to question each other, discuss moves, and if the swords were raised the next day someone would appear with the book to settle the issue. He was part of the football fans.
And it was easy if everything was linked to a natural logic, developed from the root norm: you cannot use your hands. From that, some serious fouls, punishable with a direct free kick, some minor ones, with an indirect free kick, the offside, very understandable if you grasp its essence (offside is incurred by anyone who is in front of the ball except in… and that is where the known exceptions come in) and a principle of loyalty to the game and obedience to the referee. That, the measurements of the field, the ball, the time and so on, all well summarized in XIV Rules with simple writing, easily translatable into any language and understandable from any culture. Because it was a natural law.
But they have been fiddling with it and poking at it for so many years, putting things in and out without judgment and in an absurd way, that they have lost the thread. And there is no longer a Commented Regulations of Pedro Escartín at hand, but an arbiter in each media, some without the necessary updating or true awareness of doing well. So the fan feels like the old military recruit, abandoned to the sad reality that he is moved by the arbitrary order of the non-commissioned officer on duty, who changes his judgment as he changes his mood. How can I become fond of something as short-lived as the current regulation, which I no longer even decide to write in capital letters?
I wouldn't want to come across as nostalgic, embracing the idea that any time was better. I always thought that with time everything improves except the fruit. Unfortunately, there are already two things that are getting worse, the fruit and the rules of football. Anyone who wants can consult them on the IFAB website, they are in four languages, including ours. But I don't know if it's worth it: they change them every so often. And that of Escartín, which we knew to be the catechism, has been ruined for us by the vain and meddlesome David Elleray.
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