Play of the week: SKC vs MTL

PRO Training & Development Manager Paul Rejer reflects on the decision to disallow the header from Sporting Kansas City’s Aurelien Collin on Saturday March 30th, in week 5’s Play of the week.

Paul explained: “Offsides – the most difficult decision in the game. On Saturday March 30th, we saw an example of when the AR is faced with an almost impossible task in deciding whether the player is in an offside position or not. In the Sporting Kansas City against Montreal Impact game, in the 11th minute, Aurelien Collin had a ‘goal’ disallowed for offside.

“If we take another look at this decision in slow motion and freeze framed, we can see that Collin is leaning forward while a defender is also leaning forward in the opposite direction, and they are level with each other. The law dictates that the AR has to consider if any of the head, body or feet are in an offside position, in other words any part of the body that a player can score with.

“When we examine this still picture it is difficult to see whether any part of his head, body or feet are in an offside position so imagine how difficult this judgment call must be for the AR in real time. He has to be aware of the exact moment the ball is played, then make his decision while players are moving.

“This type of decision has been described by numerous scientists as being impossible for the human eye and brain to co-ordinate. Assistant Referees work in training on set routines to prepare them for these type of situations but this clip highlights the problem they face.”