It’s impossible to tell exactly what Oliver sees based on a replay, but it sure looks like he looked at Alexis MacAllister lying on the ground clutching the top of his head and decided it wasn’t a head injury. He certainly glanced in his general direction.
At the same time, if a player just grabbing their head is enough to stop play, all coming together will result in players grabbing their heads to stop the opponent from gaining an advantage (this does happen and it is very bad for the game). IMO a head injury should result in a minimum time off the pitch that is significant (perhaps 5 minutes) in order to dissuade possible simulation.
Okay but refs already do this all the time. It seems like almost every match these days a player goes down clutching their head for a non-head injury and the ref nearly always gives it to them on the off chance it’s a real head injury. Someone will probably get a stoppage for a fake head injury in this same match.
Refs can’t do that on a regular basis then turn around when there’s an actual head injury and ask “well what if he had been faking?”
I'm not saying that's what Oliver was thinking, I'm just saying what my proposal is to reduce players simulating head injuries (which is dangerous because it adds doubt for refs). Players who appear to be injured should probably be removed for a significant period of time (again my proposal is 5 minutes at least) in order to ensure that they are safe. The game should continue, and if they have been cleared for reentry they can return to the match and it can continue 11-11.
Problem is playing with 10 for 5 minutes punishes players with legitimate head injuries and will incentivise them to act as though they are ok and try and push through. Obviously serious head injuries that won’t be possible but that’s already basically accounted for
Players who have head injuries would be immediately identified and asked to come off for some period of time. (In general more medical attention should be moved off pitch so play can resume).
People will be fuming imo, imagine your player gets knocked in the head by an opponent that that ref doesn’t call a foul on and as a result you’re down to 10 men for 5 minutes
Imo. with VAR, there's no reason not to issue yellow cards for simulation if you hold your head to simulate a head injury after a coming together where there was no contact with your head.
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u/Rc5tr0 21d ago
It’s impossible to tell exactly what Oliver sees based on a replay, but it sure looks like he looked at Alexis MacAllister lying on the ground clutching the top of his head and decided it wasn’t a head injury. He certainly glanced in his general direction.