Who would be a referee? Abused, belittled, spat at and insulted at every turn yet without them the game cannot take place? They have to make split-second decisions that can be vital to a team`s future and most of the time they do make the right ones. What do they get for this vital role as their profession? About £50K a year for the top referees and little respect.
When they are called upon to make decisions, it always seems like there are a few thousand who instantly disagree, no matter what, like on offsides when sat behind the goals and therefore at right angles to the play. These people seem to forget that what they see is not the same view the officials have, who are closer to the action, generally, and at the same level as the players. As a consequence, what is clear to the fans in Row W of the East Stand might be distinctly unclear at pitch level!
What doesn’t help is the players and managers constantly complaining during the game and then after the game has finished as well. Thankfully City are quite restrained in this and generally leave well alone. On the other side of the coin, take, for example, the still ongoing matter of comments made by Chelsea about referee Graham Poll’s performance in their game against Spurs. Right or wrong, it is not for the poachers, namely the players and clubs, to dictate to the gamekeeper, the referee, what is acceptable and what isn’t.
Its not widely known but there is provision in the Laws of the game for reporting teams crowding match officials trying to influence them. Yet how often do you hear of clubs being charged with an offence under this law? Very seldom! In the latest copy of the Laws of the game, its states that: ‘A player who is guilty of dissent by protesting at a referee`s decision must be cautioned. and A player who assaults a referee or who is guilty of using offensive, insulting or abusive language or gestures must be sent off. Yet, given the amount of protesting to the referee, there are fewer cautions for dissent as perhaps there should be. It`s not as if the referee will ever change his mind because of player protest!
The remedy? The FA should ditch this weak spineless attitude to the worst offenders, back the match officials decisions and start handing out proper punishments that are tough enough to act as a deterrent, as in the amateur game. If the FA have to go so far as to deduct points from offending clubs then so be it. Its time the game was cleared up of this intimidation of match officials which goes on, game after game.
I cannot see how it can be seen as ‘professional’ to attempt to influence the officials, in my view, its the worst form of cheating, akin to the black art of simulation. Its a shame that players and clubs feel that they need to attempt to gain an advantage in this way, especially the bigger clubs, who seem to feel that they can interpret the laws their way.
Its time for the FA to remind them who’s in charge of the game. Of course this will never happen as they won’t want to antagonise the major offenders, who would no doubt scream ‘victimisation’ but respect for match officials can only be restored by decisive action by the games highest authorities immediately.
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a brilliant article Rob and well written and balanced in my opinion… I agree with your sentiment that the FA should be tougher and support the decisions of the refs in a much harder line ….. the barracking of refs every time he blows shoul dneither be supported or encouraged from th etop……….
Rob, I agree on most points of the article, well written and balanced opinions, but lets be honest, we have had some stinkers, Refs and assistants alike, people say that descisions good and bad even themselves out over the season. Perhaps they do, but with the amount of money, jobs etc on the line week in week out, I think its about time refs got a hand, technology is available, and getting better all the time, lets use it. How many protests are made in Rugby Leauge or Cricket after the video ref/umpire have made a descision. It doesnt slow the game down by much, how often have we seen time being wasted by players, and secondly the man in the middle with the whistle cannot and should not be harrassed, after all the ruling was not his.
He be in the championship before long.
Great article! Its about time the players started giving the referees the respect they deserve! In rugby they never barrack the referee and show him the upmost respect. I run an under 11’s football team and I teach all my players that the referee is always right. I also referee games and have kids as young as 10 arguing with me over my decisions!! They watch too much football on telly!
The ref’s these day’s want to be part of the match, which is wrong, but it is also wrong to Abuse the ref on the field of play aswell (leave that to the fans. 🙂 )