COMMENT By Ignat Manjoo Follow on Twitter
We have a lot of time and respect for one of South Africa's best ever referees, Damon, as demonstrated in our special Q & A with him here last year .
However, we hope Damon is not going to hand us a red card for disagreeing with his stance over Orlando Pirates' skills.
Showboating. Does it have a place in the football? The short answer is no! Any action that seeks to humiliate or bring the game of football into disrepute is unsporting behaviour and therefore a cautionable offence. Recently in a Caf Confederation Cup match, many South African supporters were up in arms when a visiting Tunisian team [CS Sfaxien] took exception to an Orlando Pirates player [Thabo Rakhale] showboating. But what is allowed?
The referee answered his own question below:
When that skill (or entertainment) is done to pass a player or ‘skill’ a player in making an attacking or defensive pass. By all means juggle the ball and flip it over the advancing opponent’s head. No referee will penalise that, however, when you stand on one place and start tapping the ball all to yourself and start ‘showboating’ (I call it showing off), all you are doing is bringing attention to yourself and not using it as an attacking or defensive play. When you stand and twirl on the ball without advancing it past an attacker or defender (in other words the move is not used to evade an opponent), then it is showboating and that action is unsporting in terms of [Fifa] law. So can you stand and twirl on the ball? Yes, but as long as it is used to immediately evade an advancing opponent, in all other instances it is unsporting behaviour. Now we can debate as much as we want to, but unless the [Fifa] law is amended, that is how it is applied.
Damon is right about the law, that “a player must be cautioned if he/she acts in a manner which shows a lack of respect for the game."
However I disagree that Rakhale was acting in an 'unsporting' manner. Even if he intended that (and not to entertain the fans or display his skills for the love of the game), football players get away with 'unsporting behaviour' in nearly every English Premier League or European game abroad.
What Damon is talking about fits perfectly into how players waste time by standing on the ball near the corner flag. It's a smart trick but referees have never cautioned players for this, and rightly so.
Would Damon give Xavi and Iniesta yellow cards for "humiliating" opposition after they repeatedly pass the ball to one another, while the opposition tires out?
Certainly not!
Cristiano Ronaldo was criticised for "showboating" in his early years, where critics said he wasn't effective enough, but he wasn't yellow carded. If we are not calling out famous players from abroad, and just isolating South African players, then maybe we should be showing more respect when PSL players express their natural flair?
How many times would Ronaldo have been sent off in his career due to excessive showboating?
After all, it's very different to a deserved yellow card for time-wasting where players take too long to throw the ball or take a free-kick. The fact is that players (and coaches) have grown much smarter in recent decades and have taken the dark arts of the game to another level, knowing what they're allowed to do to waste time.
I remember when England played Brazil in the 2002 Fifa World Cup, with England desperate for an equaliser (at 1-2), the South Americans ate every minute, their technical ball skills were so superior that they gave themselves more time on the ball all over the pitch. What was 20 minutes can easily become 10. You can't stop a player from using that approach if he's blessed with exceptional footballing ability.
Then you have managers who make late substitutions as another time-wasting tactic. You can't give him a yellow card for that either.
We also quized you, our Goal readers on the matter in a comment and poll here. Do you agree with Damon or our Goal editor?