[EricH]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

Wow! That's a curious rule. If you were on a bus and sombody in the back opened a can of sardines, would you not know it because you didn't see it? Or what if someone fired a gun on the other side of the ridge, would you say it didn't happen?

Actually, in soccer it applies to just what happens to/around the ball. If you hit the ball with your hand, but the ref doesn't see it (which is unlikely), you're safe, even if the other team yells at the ref for it. Another example: I once did a legal slide tackle (from the front or side) on an opponent, but the ref saw it as the opponent tripping me (a foul). Ref didn't see the slide, so it was not a slide. And in a soccer game, the ref can see about the whole field if he needs to, so he will likely see something if it happens.

It would not necessarily apply outside the sports area though. I mean, it's not like I could say that you didn't build a robot because I didn't see you do it or anything like that...

And the other thing about soccer: you can't get the ref to change his mind. You can try, but it's probably a waste of time. Kind of like FIRST. Maybe baseball should adopt something like this?