[Positioning] The referee's running line, using the diagonal system of control to view the challenge from either side with the assistant referee

What to look at in this scene is where the referee placed their running line. While watching the challenge as the Niigata player ran forward at speed on the counter-attack, the referee moved so as to keep the challenge on their right. This movement can be described as an example of the diagonal system of control. In the diagonal system of control, the referee moves along a diagonal of the field of play while the two assistant referees each take the opposite touchline, so that the referee and the assistant referee are positioned on either side of the challenge. Viewing the challenge from either side in this way allows the assistant referee to watch what is in the referee's blind spot and the referee to watch what is difficult for the assistant referee to see, which makes incidents easier to judge. Even in the hurried setting of a counter-attack, the referee stayed calm and took a running line that made it possible to see the incident from either side together with the assistant referee. It was an excellent piece of movement. Look, too, at how the referee turned their head while running to check the situation further up the field.