In our previous article, we presented the statistics from this World Cup in comparative terms and made an objective assessment. The conclusion was that the referees implemented what FIFA had asked for.

What were these objectives?

• Fewer fouls and fewer cards, while controlling the game through personality and appropriate body language. 

• Quick VAR decisions and few interventions—only for clear and serious errors, with no microscopic examination. 

• An increase in effective playing time.

The number of red cards may appear inconsistent with this picture. Indeed, the 15 red cards shown exceeded the combined total from the previous two World Cups. What matters here, however, is not the number but their composition.

Only two of the 15 red cards resulted from second yellow cards. In other words, there were virtually no failures in managing tensions that led to card after card. Two resulted from the rule—applied only at this tournament—prohibiting players from covering their mouths while speaking to an opponent. Of the remaining red cards, four resulted from nonviolent offenses, such as denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity, while seven resulted from violent conduct.

Therefore, the great majority of the red cards resulted from the Laws of the Game themselves, rather than from referees losing control of their matches. The objective of showing fewer cards was achieved; the red cards were not an exception to this but evidence of it. Another conclusion is that showing a red card, when necessary, instead of issuing too many yellow cards, provides better match control.

These objectives did not closely align with those of UEFA and therefore the TFF (Turkish Football Federation). This is why European refereeing pundits found the approach strange or failed to understand it.

Whether one likes it or not and whether one accepts it or not, professional soccer has become an industry. Industrial soccer wants the result of a match to be determined by the 11 players on each team—not by the referees—using technology when necessary. It also wants the ball to remain in play longer so that spectators can watch more of the match—the product. Once these considerations are understood, FIFA’s objectives also become understandable.

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