February 14 – Concacaf has moved swiftly following its promise to overhaul its referees’ procedures and upgrade the level of its elite match official structure.
Last month the confederation announced the coup of the appointment of former World Cup referee and head of Serie A referring Nicola Rizzoli as Technical Refereeing Advisor. Rizzoli’s mandate is to “play a key role in assisting the Confederation to revamp its refereeing structures, programs and overall strategy to further develop refereeing in the region”.
The new system of appeals for direct red cards is the first fruit of that focus though was in the pipeline before Rizzoli’s appointment.
The new red card appeals process debuts in the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, which begins this week, and will be used in all Concacaf senior competitions.
Teams can request a review of direct red cards by a newly created Concacaf Independent Review Panel. The intention to appeal must be lodged two hours following the end of the game and followed by a full written appeal within 48 hours.
The appeal will then go before a three-member Concacaf independent panel for determination.
Concacaf said the “three possible outcomes of an appeal are as follows:
“Successful appeal: The three Concacaf Independent Panel members unanimously decide to overturn the on-field decision of a direct red card. The direct red card will be rescinded.
“Unsuccessful appeal: The three Concacaf Independent Panel members do not reach a unanimous decision to overturn the on-field decision of a direct red card. The direct red card decision is subsequently upheld.
“Unsuccessful appeal deemed frivolous: The three Concacaf Independent Panel members unanimously decide to uphold the on-field decision of a direct red card and unanimously deem the appeal to be frivolous. The on-field decision of a direct red card will be upheld and the player in question will receive an additional one match suspension.”
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