Referees sometimes have to make decisions about nearly every act in a game. At other times, certain games require only a minimum of interference from the referees. Each decision, resulting in a call or no-call, end up being interpreted and judged in various ways by players, coaches and supporters and frequently one hears the phrase (put in lightly in this column), ‘the ref is biased against us!’

However is the referee really biased or is he executing his duties in a fair way as one, ultimately, expects from him?

In some ways referees act as aids to the action, and in others they must make continual judgements about the acts that constitute the basic elements of the respective sport.

In order to make these decisions, the referee requires two traits.

Firstly, the referee should have a full understanding of what is supposed to take place in a game. Secondly he must have a superior ability to make distinctions about those factors. After all, the fundamental purpose of referees is to make sure that games proceed in a fair manner.

One must be careful that it is sometimes possible to mistake this purpose. Some referees feel it is their primary duty to call violations to the rules, to punish participants whenever possible and to conduct a kind of competition themselves to see how much influence they can have on the proceedings.

One must always remember that the real purpose of referees is to help players play a game.

It may seem obvious that a referee must be fair, but sometimes this doctrine is hard to maintain.

Let me cite a few examples where a referee (inexperienced and/or sensitive) can be affected. If one team argues with a referee from the start of the game, whereas the other team does not utter any form of complaint, it will be difficult for this referee to keep a balanced view of all the action.

If just one player on a team voices sarcasm, remaining entirely neutral becomes a problem for this same referee.

Experienced referees know that their task is to subdue their emotions and make an honest call when a key play occurs.

Sometimes a referee will also go to a game with disturbing things in his mind, for example a quarrel at home, a confrontation at work, a car accident on the way to the game. In addition to affecting one’s concentration, such an emotional state of mind can influence attempts to be neutral in dealing with the teams during a game.

Therefore the referee should be strong enough to let go of everything once he enters the field of play.

All this is easy to write but it takes sound training in personal psychology and philosophy on the part of the referee. From experience I can easily state that this will take some time to master and even after time goes by, one needs to be able to concentrate fully during a game.

Referees must also learn how strictly rules must be applied at various levels of competition. It is possible to ruin the game by applying all technical aspects of the rules. Rules may applied differently in a certain youth or junior game than they would in a senior game. Personally I like to refer to this as the advantage/disadvantage principle.

Citing an example from basketball, I would permit junior players on both teams a slight shuffle of the feet when trying to pivot if no advantage was gained.

Strict adherence to the rules might result in a continual blowing of the whistle and can actually take the game away from the players.

To summarise the main aim of this article, in essence, fairness can be defined as a solid knowledge of the rules applied in an even way to game action. The phrase ‘in an even way’ deserves to be repeated and highlighted since, after all, the rules of respective sports disciplines are designed so that one team does not enjoy an unfair advantage.

In principle, being a referee can be serious fun. The fun comes from the excitement and thrill of being part of sports, in the middle of the action and expanding your own sports involvement. Being on the field of play also carries with it the obligations of protecting the players’ safety, ensuring that fairness is the operating principle of each game and promoting the noblest ideals of integrity in game conduct. These may seem like far-fetched ambitions, but it is each referee’s duty to apply them in practical working situations.

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