14 FRASUI Ivanov

What a game for Valentin Ivanov! Really intense piece of football which was without doubt the hardest game to officiate so far of World Cup 2006. France and Switzerland really tested the referee from Russia who had a very high number of situations to evaluate. Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first - the opening caution was (very) wrong and when the same player committed a reckless stamp at the end he had to be ejected, Ivanov probably saved not only the Switzerland player's tournament by not doing so. But the rest was pretty good - referee from Russia passed the test with his interesting style and left the door ajar for even better assignments than this one.

Let's start with the crucial incidents:

Key Match Incidents

37' - Penalty to France?

Ivanov was quite brilliantly correct in my opinion here - no, this was not a deliberate handling (in 2020 - clear penalty), and the referee saw it perfectly. Well done.


55' - Violent Conduct by Switzerland no.23?

I suppose it is at the referee's discretion to decide whether the head contact initiated by Switzerland no.23 is an accident or a violent conduct, but I am strongly in favour of deciding it as accidental - Hanlon's Razor :).


88' - (Second) Yellow Card to Switzerland no.3?

No room for doubt here: late, reckless - a clear caution. That would have meant Switzerland no.3 off, he was cautioned at the end of the first half, if it wasn't objectively wrong, then it was certainly unwise. We cannot be sure if self-preservation or misperception kept saved Magnin, but he was saved indeed.

CRUCIAL MISTAKE

Approach

Seven of the eight offences which resulted in a caution were more technical - only the one issued at 71' was for a classic late tackle. All of the ones in the second half were quite credible, but both in the first half - while not objectively wrong - were certainly not wise bookings. Ivanov was made rather to look an idiot in the second scene aforementioned, but with FIFA keenly watching over their referees to make sure they punished Delaying the Restart, I wouldn't blame him too much.

The brilliance in Ivanov's performance was the discretion he offered the players in assessing tackles as either careless or (once, correctly) reckless. His reactions, in terms of whistle tone, presence and conversations with players excellently let them know how far they tested his line, with Cabanas crossing it at 71'. This was the virtue that allowed him to keep a hand on everything.

To add: I found his manner fascinating. I am not sure you would find it in the textbook as arousing the most respect nor trust from the players, but it worked here.

Assistant Referees

Good afternoon for Nikolaj Golubev and Evgenij Volnin. They were always correct raising the flag - Volnin saw well both a tricky situation in the first half where communication with referee Ivanov was needed, and a crucial situation right at the very end. Golubev especially showed to be a very active team member. 

Valentin Ivanov - 7,8(2) Nikolaj Golubev - 8,4 Evgenij Volnin - 8,5 Kevin Stott Gregory Barkey RUS – USA	France 0-0 Switzerland Group Stage
Abidal (64.) - Dissent Zidane (72.) - Premature Execution Sagnol (90.+2') - Holding	Magnin (42.) - Tripping Streller (44.) - Delaying the Restart P. Degen (56.) - Lack of Respect (Holding) Cabanas (71.) - Tackle Frei (90.+3') - Lack of Respect (Handling)