Soccer Officiating Still Poor

Despite a U.S. win in their opening match for the Gold Cup, the tournament of North and Central American nations, the 1-0 win for the Americans was marred by some pretty poor officiating. The Honduran referee allowed some very hard challenges by the Guatamalan team to go unpunished, while handing out several yellow cards to American players. American defender Oguchi Onyewu was given two yellow cards in the match and sent packing leaving teh American side a man short for the final 25 minutes of the match. The first yellow was probably deserved for a retaliatory foul, but the second card was issued after Onyewu and an Guatamalan attacker collided in an effort to get into position. There appeared to be no intent on the part of either player. Onyewu's collision came a few momenets after American midfielder Landon Donovan was leveled in another collision that left Donovan laying on the field for about one minute and quite a shiner on his forehead.

The Gold Cup is one of the tournaments that lead to FIFA's Confederations Cup, an international tournament leading up to the World Cup. But the officiating on the international level is not on par with the excellent play we see on this level. One suggestion, offered by Prof. William Birdthistle is to alter the way in which soccer matchers are officiated, including adding more officials on the field. Either way, FIFA (the sport's governing body) needs to take a long hard look at the officiating before more players become seriously hurt and the game itself takes a beating.