This week I would like to discuss certain important factors which influence the referee’s job. Some of these points (adapted also from studies done from respected referees worldwide) sprung to my mind after certain discussions I had with various parties (including coaches and players) during the break from games that we had locally in the past ten days, just after the end of the first seasonal competition (the Shield) and prior to the actual start of the league championship.
From the outset I want to make it clear as crystal that we, as referees, should never sacrifice our integrity for anyone. It is true that we are humans, and as such each one of us likes to be praised. However we must, on the other hand, be aware that the players, committees and spectators are only interested in whistles and decisions which ultimately favour their team.
The referee should learn quickly to call a game the same way, regardless of what the participants or fans desire. This depends a lot upon one’s personality. I, like many other fellow referees around, have met individuals who could have developed into good referees but then lacked the necessary personality to make the grade emotionally.
A sport contest can be valid only when taking place under an established and agreed upon set of rules. The athletes and coaches have every right to expect referees to show high standards of professionalism and skills.
Since the creation of referees, consistency has always been mentioned as a factor which must be sought by all those who control matches of any kind. It has also been the source of great criticism from the outside environment towards referees.
Many people, especially those who never experienced sports at a certain top level, cannot really understand the real meaning of consistency. These, in fact, think that it is just a matter of simple logic. However this is far from the truth as consistency demands a high level of preparation as well as a high level of personal logic and common sense on the part of a referee.
Despite saying this and however hard a referee tries to be consistent and as fair and logical as possible, the unforgiving reality remains that referees may never appear consistent to those who do not understand the details and particulars of each respective sports discipline.
However the advice given by top experts is that referees can help themselves a great deal by being consistent on those things which they, in effect, can control. Unfortunately, the appearance of inconsistency will always be the unpreventable fate of the referee.
Additionally, we, as referees, are not there to be liked. On the other hand, our job leads us to be hated (in the real sense of the word) by all and sundry at one time or another. Referees have got to accept this as being part and parcel of the job and thus have to be open and have to accept criticism.
This article is definitely not suggesting that referees do not make mistakes. The truth, which cannot be denied, is that any referee does mistakes as nobody is perfect.
As a top referee once said, referees are forced to make decisions (even a no-call decision is taken by players, coaches and/or spectators as a decision of sorts!!) about events which are social in nature under the ever present limitations of time (decision in a fraction of a second, something a lot of people find hard to understand) and under the pressures of various contaminating influences.
As a result, we, as referees, at times fall victim to the environment and make the same errors of judgement that all humans make under these conditions.
However, as time goes by, experience provides us with a means of making sense out of that occasional chaos which occurs in a sporting event. As a result experienced referees will generally make fewer errors.
Many might not believe the following but the fact is that good referees generally do not make so many mistakes. A number of the assumed mistakes actually reflect the player’s, coach’s and/or the spectators’ assumption that their observation of an incident is true and uncontaminated by personal bias.
At this point I would like to quote a citation from a top magazine which is very relevant in this context: “Sport events are not similar to objects in the real physical environment. In the world of real objects there exists no such thing as an offensive foul, a holding violation, a free kick or a penalty. The latter events are subjective and arbitrary. They can only be understood in the order they occur by individuals who have been schooled and trained in their identification.
On the contrary, certain events in sports contests are not to be seen or understood in and of themselves, as are, for example, physical objects, but only within the framework of both the preceding and succeeding events. Additionally these events also do not fall into neat classifications of occurring or not occurring. They are not so distinct in reality.
In each sport, events must be judged on their relevance not on their occurrence. As a result, many of the mistakes that spectators assume referees make are not disagreements as to whether an event occurred or not but whether a particular penalty should have been administered. Here is where most spectators fail to understand the range of stances the referees use in classifying an event.”
The emotional level is arguably the most difficult aspect of a game for a referee to control. Building a thick skin will help a referee to become better, yet it takes practice and sound psychological preparation to do so.
Despite the clear and obvious desire by most referees to not to have to make game-determining decisions, there are many games that require such decisions to take place.
Referees, as is the case with other game participants, vary in their willingness to accept such responsibilities. Just as some players seem to wish to take an active part during the so-called ‘clutch’ situations while other players seem to disappear in the same moments, referees respond to such conditions with different degrees of enthusiasm.
A saying I was taught since my early days as a referee is: “only those referees prepared to work under pressure will have a chance to rise to high levels.”
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