You sometimes wonder five or six referees miss even the most obvious of incidents. One of the more blatant mistakes we’ve seen recently comes from the Israeli Premier League, as Dutch defender Jurgen Colin of Hapoel Tel Aviv kicked Yero Bello of FC Ashdod right in the face and got away without even getting warned.

In the league match between Hapoel and Ashdod (Hapoel winning 2-1), the two were involved in a tackle that brought both players to the ground. The two were tumbling out of the pitch, and Colin took the opportunity of what looked like arms and legs flying around to hit Bello straight in the face with his boot.

There was no need for an actual replay to see what happened, or to conclude that it was a completely deliberate move on behalf of Colin, but for some reason no whistle or decision to book or send him off came from the referee.

Maybe if Bello would have gotten badly hurt (luckily he wasn’t), the reaction from the official would be different. Many bad officials don’t actually see what’s going on, and reactions they pick up from players is what helps them make the decisions. A good actor can win more than his share of free kicks with these kind of officials. Unluckily for Bello, grabbing his face and rolling around didn’t help him.