One of the most controversial calls of this year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa occurred during a Group C game between the United States and Slovenia in which Mali referee Koman Coulibaly whistled a foul on the U.S. team, negating Maurice Edu’s go-ahead goal in the 85th minute. The Americans were never given an explanation for the call and had to settle for a 2-2 draw. In July, Peter Mikkelsen, a member of the FIFA Referee Committee, spoke to 125 local soccer referees (including representatives from AYSO Region 69) in Culver City. He not only defended the FIFA program, he offered insight into calls, referee selection, referee training and the six weeks he spent in South Africa prior to and during the World Cup. After every match, referees watched tapes of matches with FIFA officials. Of the 145 goals awarded during the 64 matches, 142 were correct and three were incorrect. Of the 15 disallowed, 13 were done correctly and only two decisions were incorrect’one of which was the U.S. goal against Slovenia. Overall, referees were correct almost 97 percent of the time, according to Mikkelsen, a Denmark resident who was voted the best referee in the world in 1993 by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics and, five years later, was named best referee of the decade. “This is a game of human beings–the ref will make mistakes,” Mikkelsen said, explaining that selection of potential referees for the 2010 World Cup started immediately after the 2006 tournament. One question Mikkelsen was frequently asked is why Coulibaly, two days after the U.S.-Slovenia game, was back on the sideline as the fourth official for Italy’s Group F game against New Zealand. “It’s political,” said Mikkelsen, who retired from officiating international soccer in 1998. He pointed out that overall the FIFA refs gave fewer yellow and red cards than prior years and that the accuracy of the decisions was high. After each match referees reviewed the game, then had to fill out self-evaluations with emphasis on how they could learn from their games and experiences. Those chosen were invited to a weekly platform on the Internet and were subjected to a series of physical, psychological and language tests (all are required to understand English, the official FIFA language). They were then monitored for their performance in matches like the FIFA U17 and U20 Worlds Cups. From there, the field was narrowed to 45 referee teams (three per team) and the final selection of 30 teams was made in February. Before the World Cup, every referee had to pass an additional physical fitness test. Members of an African and a South American team did not and were subsequently sent home because every ref on a team must pass for the team to be eligible. This year, a special video, ‘Hot Topics’ was shown to coaches, players and referees before the start of the tournament. “We went over topics, tackles, holding encroachment, delaying the restart of play, celebration of goals and offsides,” Mikkelsen said. “We showed players video clips of tackles and let them use yellow and red cards to decide what should be called. We hoped with the DVD it could help with uniformity in the matches.” There were 29 referee teams in the 2010 World Cup, five of the trios being reserves. According to Mikkelsen, part of the problem in selecting the best referees is that FIFA has to have representatives from all six regional confederations: Asia and Australia; Africa; North America and Central America; South America; Oceana (islands); and Europe. He also noted that some areas don’t have as much talent as other areas. “We had no major injuries, which showed the overall match control,” Mikkelsen said. No referees from the United States worked this year’s tournament. “They just didn’t have the quality this year,” Mikkelsen said. “However, in the future there will be.” Referees were paid $50,000 (in U.S. dollars), which for some African referees is the equivalent of 10 years’ salary, and also received meals and lodging. Mikkelsen acknowledged that ‘Bribes are a big concern.’ “Refereeing has given me so much, so many friends,” said Mikkelsen who is married, has a teenage son, and works for the Human Relations Department at F-Group, a leading retail electronics chain in Denmark. On occasion, he picks up his whistle to volunteer as a referee at his son’s soccer games. And yes, he has been heckled. Residents who would like to try refereeing on a local level should attend a basic clinic at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 11, at Palisades High School.
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