Since most of my colleagues who referee winter sports are already in, or almost, their ‘off-season’, I would like to start discussing the general concept of refereeing, albeit in a slightly different manner than before as I will be analysing also certain recent incidents.
The issue of refereeing any type of sport, but most especially the major ones, is never far from the vanguard of a lot of public discussion. From the topmost to the lowest level, i.e. from Olympic or World Championship games to low level social games, players, supporters, armchair ‘analysts’ and sport governing bodies all have their views, concepts and ideas on developments in the art of refereeing.
It has to be said from the outset that it is also true that a number of referees, from various sports (here in Europe it is principally football with the likes of Collina, Merk and Frisk but then other continents have got their star referees like for example a couple of NBA basketball referees in the USA) have even become quite celebrated public figures under the, sometimes, harsh glare of the ever-extending and more refined TV coverage of top level sports.
Having said this, most refereeing occurs in a routine, low profile and unobtrusive manner. The vast majority of matches at local and international level do very little to direct public attention to the referees or to the behaviour of the players. As the saying goes, 'good' refereeing is, regrettably, but predictably, hardly news.
In recent weeks we heard some emphasis being placed on certain incidents that occurred in the local scene where violence on referees was reported. In fact I had dedicated two columns on the issue a few weeks ago. However when contemplating on the matter, one can easily notice that even at the local level, player violence and abuse (which must be dealt with an iron fist immediately if the referees are really victims) aimed at referees is hardly such a vast issue, especially given, on the one hand, the amount of sport matches played locally and, on the other, the unusually high level (maybe this is a sad reality) of informality which characterizes the lowest level of sport in this country.
The highlighted so-called violence incidents have added more problems to the referee recruitment strategies (if existent) of most associations. In fact, these incidents and the associated difficulties involved in recruiting sufficient numbers of referees to keep pace with the extraordinary growth in the numbers playing sports at this level over the last years, remain serious.
Unfortunately certain administrators do not seem to really care about the dire need for fresh faces and are just satisfied that referee slots in the leagues are just filled in the short term with no disregard to facts such as that each game is different just as referees’ personalities, experience and intelligence is different. When this happens – and I have seen it and also experienced it – referees are sort of used to ‘fill the blanks’ and shown no sense of true respect. Respect is, in my belief, an important necessity in life but unfortunately many are those who forget its real sense and lack true respect towards those around them.
It is routinely asserted that the individuals who are recruited annually only replace the previously qualified referees who give up their profession each season either through work, injury, retirement or some other reason.
This is without adding that of the new recruits taken in at every new referees’ course, a big chunk last only a matter of weeks. Some of these are, simply, quite inappropriate and unsuitable to the task in hand (and I believe it makes sense to make it clear to them from the very beginning so as to avoid conflicts both for themselves and for the association later on), or give up because of work or other commitments.
It is a simple matter to focus on a small number of publicized violent incidents in local sports and suggest that they represent the custom and habitual experience of referees in the modern era. This is not the case. However, there are signs that referees have been demanding new protections from potential assailants.
I do not think I am far off the mark if I state that nowadays some of the worst indiscipline comes from younger players and from their parents. I have seen incidents where referees were physically assaulted by young players and their parents.
Unfortunately I have also to admit (I love to present the whole picture) that there also has been some indication of the pressures on referees. Sometimes a referee may find himself ‘weak’ emotionally and may snap at a player/s. One cannot disregard such incidents as everybody has to carry the burden of responsibility (not only on an individual level but also as a representative of the whole refereeing community) that his particular task brings on.
However, returning back to the problem of referees who opt to quit the job, I would like to share with you the results of a survey carried out on football referees in the UK.
Most (38%) of those who stopped refereeing mentioned harassment by players and/or supporters as the main reason for thinking about quitting. Fitness problems was the second main reason (20%) followed by job or domestic responsibilities (15%) and worsening behaviour around the sport (10%).
On concluding I would like to stress once again that there are always two sides of the coin and I definitely do not want to try to state that harassment is only present against referees. As I stated in previous columns I urge everyone to report any harassment by referees (this does not necessarily have to be of the physical type but could also be, maybe more harmful, of the psychological type) as I, for one, do not want to have colleagues who resort to such behaviour in a consistent way.
Just as I would prefer to have administrators that show real respect towards referees who both work hard, individually out of the limelight, and also show great respect to the same administrators and not have administrators who, even if without knowing or due to financial constraints which are not visible in other circumstances, may lead to less motivation or maybe even deny experiences to referees when ultimately it will be the local game that will gain. More on this in the coming weeks.
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