Coulibaly's Folly

Man of the Hour: Referee Koman Coulibaly

By now everyone is well aware of the frustrating ghost call made by Malian referee Koman Coulibaly which disallowed the USA's game winning goal in Friday's WC match against Slovenia. As Americans roil at the injustice it is somewhat comforting to know the outrage extends beyond the US and is shared by the world's media in a collective search to understand what went wrong.

In the aftermath we've learned that this is not the first tournament-deciding head-scratcher of a call Coulibaly has made... in fact his past is quite checkered. We've also seen an utter lack of transparency in FIFA's governing rules and decision making. The notion that the referee does not have to state what the foul is or who it was called on seems bizarre to an American public used to accountability in their sports leagues. The recent emotional apology from MLB umpire Jim Joyce for his blown call that spoiled a perfect game for Tiger's pitcher Armando Galarraga puts Coulibaly and FIFA's silence in even starker contrast.

Of course instant replay is the easiest and most accurate way to keep these errors from deciding results, but FIFA's head Sepp Blatter is notoriously anti-technology. While FIFA had originally said that Coulibaly's performance could only be judged at the end of the WC, under pressure from worldwide scrutiny, there appears to be an expedited review under way. Let's hope for the sake of fair play that this was Koman Coulibaly's last match officiating in South Africa.

On a side note, most American proponent's of the sport were doubly frustrated by the result thinking that an early US exit would hurt the profile of soccer in this country. However, in an ironic twist of events, the gaffe seems to have galvanized American interest and support for the Yanks. Disapproval of the call expressed by tennis stars Andy Roddick and Serena Williams put a public face on American outrage. No doubt even more Americans will tune in for USA's final and decisive match against Algeria. Americans love a good underdog story and scrappy Team USA fits the role perfectly. Hopefully they'll take the fire they displayed after the Slovenian match onto the pitch on Wednesday and into the Round of 16.