64 BRAFRA Belqola
France deservedly defeated a subdued Brazil by three goals to nothing in the final of their own World Cup, to win football's most prestigious prize for the first time. Conspiracy theorists run amok about the Ronaldo-affaire, but on the pitch, Les Blues certainly won the day, and the tournament.
Referee Said Belqola was in charge of a hard fought but fair-spirited game - the Moroccan justified his appointment to the World Cup final with an accomplished performance which justifiably earned his officiating widespread praise.
Big Decisions
The clip montage below contains the second yellow card issued to Marcel Desailly (68') in addition to five further situations (1', 27', 31', 38', 52').
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Belqola had no other option than to send Desailly off - it was visible that he instantly got out the yellow card after the France player's challenge (irrespective of any Brazil complaints), and he walked off without complaint. The referee took the expected decision, and did not panic: perfect.
On a strictly theoretical level though - was this challenge really reckless? Desailly actually pulled out of any real force in the challenge, and just involuntarily slid into Cafu himself. Is it just me who would actually be okay with no sanction here?
On a strictly theoretical level though - was this challenge really reckless? Desailly actually pulled out of any real force in the challenge, and just involuntarily slid into Cafu himself. Is it just me who would actually be okay with no sanction here?
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The other situations in the video clip:
1' - can you imagine! Not a penalty in any game, let alone at this moment (25 seconds).
27' - you can see that Achmat Salie isn't quite in the optimal position to determine whether the ball had fully gone over the byline or not, but there is no way that we can reasonably assess (better than him) whether the ball crossed or not.
31' - Fabien Barthez's contact with Ronaldo, despite ending awkwardly, was actually no more than careless really, so definitely correct to go on.
38' - even if you wanted to make the case for a red card, impossible to be sure that Carlos Dunga hit Didier Deschamps deliberately, and not just as a result of momentum.
52' - certainly the most interesting situation of the final besides the second yellow card scene.
The live sequence actually shows better than the replay that Deschamps does appear to take out Denílson in the penalty area. In which case the base decision should be a penalty given to Brazil.
However, my strong feeling (and evidently that of the referee) is that Denílson used the challenge to heavily touch the ball and bring himself down with Deschamps leg. Never a clear match error given the situational context, but I would say also a supportable refereeing decision per se.
1' - can you imagine! Not a penalty in any game, let alone at this moment (25 seconds).
27' - you can see that Achmat Salie isn't quite in the optimal position to determine whether the ball had fully gone over the byline or not, but there is no way that we can reasonably assess (better than him) whether the ball crossed or not.
31' - Fabien Barthez's contact with Ronaldo, despite ending awkwardly, was actually no more than careless really, so definitely correct to go on.
38' - even if you wanted to make the case for a red card, impossible to be sure that Carlos Dunga hit Didier Deschamps deliberately, and not just as a result of momentum.
52' - certainly the most interesting situation of the final besides the second yellow card scene.
The live sequence actually shows better than the replay that Deschamps does appear to take out Denílson in the penalty area. In which case the base decision should be a penalty given to Brazil.
However, my strong feeling (and evidently that of the referee) is that Denílson used the challenge to heavily touch the ball and bring himself down with Deschamps leg. Never a clear match error given the situational context, but I would say also a supportable refereeing decision per se.
Managing the Game
Said Belqola had a very good evening as referee - his supercilious leadership style and smart use of cards payed off, both the players and the watching world both accepted and appreciated the manner in which the Moroccan referee handled the World Cup final.
In a match which was less complicated than all of the quarterfinals and semifinals, the greatest success of Belqola's performance was it's assuredness - not at one moment could anybody have had the impression that this referee was over his head, which as quite easily the least famous of all twenty-three players on the pitch, the first African final ref and so on, was highly impressive.
I thought Belqola started really well - he resisted what would have been a defendable but cheap caution (7'), stepped in when necessarily even if not terribly visible to many (10'), and in general imposed his distant-but-reasonable leadership style on the players (eg. 8', 38'), which they followed throughout.
Smart use of cards was a feature of the Moroccan referee's two prior performances, and he kept that up here - 34' was the perfect moment for the first caution and Belqola obliged. It would be a fair charge to say that he could, or maybe should, have reacted more strongly against the ensuing dissent, but I'd disagree - the referee understood his role on this evening and always acted appropriately.
After not issuing a balancing caution against France at 37', Didier Deschamps a minute later committed the archetypal yellow card challenge, and Belqola could level the cards up at one each. Neither team could really have had any complaints as they walked in for halftime.
In the second half, Belqola started slightly more weakly - his previously very good foul detection dropped a bit (46', 48', 54'), and the first caution to Marcel Desailly was just slightly chaotic, though Belqola did ultimately take charge of the incident satisfactorily.
In a match which was less complicated than all of the quarterfinals and semifinals, the greatest success of Belqola's performance was it's assuredness - not at one moment could anybody have had the impression that this referee was over his head, which as quite easily the least famous of all twenty-three players on the pitch, the first African final ref and so on, was highly impressive.
I thought Belqola started really well - he resisted what would have been a defendable but cheap caution (7'), stepped in when necessarily even if not terribly visible to many (10'), and in general imposed his distant-but-reasonable leadership style on the players (eg. 8', 38'), which they followed throughout.
Smart use of cards was a feature of the Moroccan referee's two prior performances, and he kept that up here - 34' was the perfect moment for the first caution and Belqola obliged. It would be a fair charge to say that he could, or maybe should, have reacted more strongly against the ensuing dissent, but I'd disagree - the referee understood his role on this evening and always acted appropriately.
After not issuing a balancing caution against France at 37', Didier Deschamps a minute later committed the archetypal yellow card challenge, and Belqola could level the cards up at one each. Neither team could really have had any complaints as they walked in for halftime.
In the second half, Belqola started slightly more weakly - his previously very good foul detection dropped a bit (46', 48', 54'), and the first caution to Marcel Desailly was just slightly chaotic, though Belqola did ultimately take charge of the incident satisfactorily.
His management at 51' was a bit more problematic mind - even if Desailly had slid off the pitch by his own momentum, just leaving him there without checking on him was not the best impression with regards managing the game. I understand that refs were under pressure to 'get the game back on' in 1998, but that was a bit much for me.
France sat back for the whole second half and for the most part there was relatively little to adjudicate on for the referee, even including Desailly's red card - I can only really speak about a missed caution after advantage at 85'.
Having blown the final whistle, the talk of the world could not have been further from the referee - achieved by the distinguished refereeing performance of Said Belqola.
France sat back for the whole second half and for the most part there was relatively little to adjudicate on for the referee, even including Desailly's red card - I can only really speak about a missed caution after advantage at 85'.
Having blown the final whistle, the talk of the world could not have been further from the referee - achieved by the distinguished refereeing performance of Said Belqola.
Assistant Referees
Quite busy games for both Mark Warren (26', 59', 62', 83') and Achmat Salie (23', 59', 76', 79', 81', 85', 89') and both showed why they were selected for the showpiece match of the competition.
Warren played a good onside at 83'; as Brazil attacked in the second half, and Salie was correct to deny them progress with offside flags on a number of occasions. A better view of the unclear 23' situation I suspect would put the South African in the right.
An interesting anecdote from the match's fourth official, Abdulrahman Al-Zaid. He says that Belqola told him to start warming up at halftime, because the Moroccan, on account of some back pain wasn't sure that he was fit enough to complete the game. In general, the Saudi seemed relatively quiet as fourth official.
Warren played a good onside at 83'; as Brazil attacked in the second half, and Salie was correct to deny them progress with offside flags on a number of occasions. A better view of the unclear 23' situation I suspect would put the South African in the right.
An interesting anecdote from the match's fourth official, Abdulrahman Al-Zaid. He says that Belqola told him to start warming up at halftime, because the Moroccan, on account of some back pain wasn't sure that he was fit enough to complete the game. In general, the Saudi seemed relatively quiet as fourth official.
Balance
The first (and to date, only) referee from Africa to handle the FIFA World Cup final, Said Belqola made a very positive contribution to the game, which was widely acknowledged in the few discussions after the game which did address the performance of the Moroccan referee.
Belqola was more than up to the occasion, and applied his way of refereeing to the final in a very effective way. Justified in sending off Marcel Desailly, the Moroccan perfectly understood his 'role' in this performance, and delivered a throughly convincing performance.
From Belqola and all of the officials in the final team - an excellent final chapter in the officiating of World Cup 1998. Well done!
Belqola was more than up to the occasion, and applied his way of refereeing to the final in a very effective way. Justified in sending off Marcel Desailly, the Moroccan perfectly understood his 'role' in this performance, and delivered a throughly convincing performance.
From Belqola and all of the officials in the final team - an excellent final chapter in the officiating of World Cup 1998. Well done!
| Said Belqola - 7 Mark Warren - 7 Achmat Salie - 7 Abdulrahman Al-Zaid MAR, ENG, RSA | Brazil 0-3 France Final 12 July |
 J. Baiano (34') - Challenge | Deschamps (38') - Tackle Desailly (47') - Lack of Respect (Holding) Karembeu (56') - Tackle |
 Desailly (68') - Challenge | |
| FIFA World Cup 1998 winners - France | |
Said Belqola tragically passed away in June 2002, aged forty-five, having suffered from cancer for over two years. He was taken well before his time - rest in peace.
Back in 1998, I was very surprised by this appointment, but Belqola clearly showed that it was fully deserved. Solid performance by the first African referee in a World Cup final. A wonderful achievement! Rest in peace, Said.
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