Howard Webb, general manager of the Professional Referees Organization, said that referee Mark Geiger made the correct call in disallowing Josef Martinez's goal in Atlanta United's 2-0 loss to Sporting KC on Wednesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The debate, which is ongoing on social media a day later, revolves around Martinez scoring after a pass from Ezequiel Barco was touched by a Sporting KC defender. Martinez was offside when he received the pass. He turned, shot and scored.
Webb, who formerly officiated in the Premier League and was one of the world’s most respected soccer referees before he retired in 2014, said the play comes down to the Sporting KC defender making an instinctual move, rather than a deliberate move, on the ball.
Geiger, who worked the 2014 World Cup and will work the 2018 World Cup, signaled a goal, but reviewed the play. After a short review, Geiger disallowed the goal that would have given Atlanta United a 1-0 lead.
After the game, Geiger wrote as an answer from a pool reporter question on the ruling that, “The Sporting KC defender reacted by planting his foot in the ground in an attempt to block the ball. The ball hit him, deflecting to the Atlanta United player in an offside position.”
Law No. 11 in the IFAB laws of the game states, “a player in an offside position, receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball (except for a deliberate save from an opponent) is not considered to having gained an advantage.”
A sticking point among Atlanta United supporters is how the word deliberate should be defined. Those who believe that the goal should have counted have posted on social media that the Sporting KC defender stuck out his leg to hit the pass from Barco. They argue that is a deliberate action.
However, Webb said that FIFA offers referees guidance on how to differentiate the gray areas between a deliberate play and a deflection.
A deliberate play is explained as a player moving toward the ball, or taking steps toward the ball and then making a play on it, as opposed to an instinctive reaction to play the ball.
“When you see a player suddenly react, stick a leg out, for example, at a ball that’s coming at them with pace, that’s not considered a deliberate play of the ball,” Webb told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Webb said that instinctive move is what the Sporting KC player did and why Geiger made the correct call.
“It wasn’t something that was meant as a pass to a colleague, it wasn’t meant as a clearance,” Webb said. “It was just a reaction, stick the leg out and the ball bounced off the leg. The player didn’t have time to play the ball -- that’s another consideration. Didn’t really have balance and the ball deflected off him.
“I considered that to be the correct outcome. It does require some interpretation. That’s exactly what Mark Geiger did. That’s why he chose to look at the screen again instead of just accepting information from the VAR. He chose to look at the screen to make sure he could have the final interpretation.”
Webb said this play was different than the one two weeks in the game between Sporting KC and New England when Teal Bunbury scored after receiving the ball from a Sporting KC defender. That goal was allowed after a review.
Webb said on that play the defender made a deliberate move toward the ball. That is why the goal was allowed in the 1-0 win for the Revs on April 28. Dave Ganter was the referee in that game.
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