It is no secret that there are, in the vast majority, if not all, sports disciplines, not enough referees available to cover the ever increasing number of games (or contests, meetings, etc.) played in our Islands.

Some also go into great depths in stating that there is a national crisis in refereeing and criticize publicly the nominations officers who have the demanding and grueling task to find people to officiate in all the scheduled games.

Clearly there is a growing concern not only in Malta but practically all around the world that refereeing, in all sports, needs quick and substantial support. Technically, refereeing is critical to any game.

I decided to write about this topic after watching a local TV sports programme where once again there was criticism for the fact that certain officials were having to work more than one game a day.

From the outset, I want to make it clear that I do not know the circumstances in these cases. However knowing and having experienced the difficulties that spring up occasionally without notice, I tend to believe that these officials were in fact nominated for more than one game a day, not for greediness but because of necessity so as not to postpone matches.

I would like the public to appreciate that most referees’ associations face a shortage and are doing somewhat 'mini' miracles to offer a good service to the respective game/sport.

At this point many may ask why there is a shortage. Why is it difficult to recruit new referees and then, more importantly, retain these referees for a number of years? After thinking a bit, I came up with some reasons for the crisis we currently face.

Let me start by analyzing problems with recruitment. The first thing that came into my mind was the fact that refereeing is widely regarded not to be a glamorous and thrilling part of sport and there is limited chance to gain attention as there are no recognized stars in refereeing. On the contrary refereeing is assumed to be a thankless vocation where the referee is continually criticized and generally disliked.

The remuneration to referees and especially to junior referees in quite insufficient when compared to the sacrifices (time, money and family) one does (I can vouch that one has to do a lot of sacrifices in order to achieve better results in refereeing and sometimes, notwithstanding these sacrifices and all the good will one has, there are still constraints (mostly political (not party politics to be clear)) that lead one to face closed doors).

New referees also have to face the expense of obtaining the refereeing apparel like new uniforms and other equipment to be used whilst carrying out their officiating job.

What really makes me angry is that in most sports there is no clear and defined pathway for potential referees. Due to this, interested people might opt not to enroll for a beginner's course because they lack an understanding of what they would get in return if they put the necessary effort in order to give a good account of themselves on the field of play.

Another thing that disappoints me is that in most referees' courses there is a lack or little promotion of the benefits one derives from refereeing. After all refereeing is not just giving but it could actually give back in return and here I am not necessarily implying monetary benefits but referring to social, intellectual and character developing benefits.

Despite the difficulties, most sports associations manage to lure a number of persons through the first beginner rungs of refereeing. This is definitely not the end as now begins the difficult task of working hard so as to make everything possible in order to retain these beginner referees as much as possible.

Once on the field these inexperienced referees will face a baptism of fire especially if they face players, coaches and maybe supporters who do not exhibit patience especially when knowing fully well that the referee is new to the job and thus will immediately try to reduce his worth with unnecessary comments which will be felt like a truckload of bricks by the poor young referee who is still trying to find a stimulus to convince himself that he did the right thing in enrolling to become a referee.

I have got to know of quite sad incidents where young referees faced abuse and even threats on the first outings. None of them came back for another game and one should really thank (sic) those who abused them.

Now there might be some who argue that it is not fair to have a young, inexperienced referee who makes some mistake in a game. They might be right in a way but then, who is perfect? Does Citizen Joe do everything right from the outset? Additionally I dare anyone who loves to criticize referees to come over and referee just a part of a game so as to make him feel what it is like to control a match by running and taking instantaneous decisions on calls or no-calls.

I have managed to do this with some individuals in the past and the result was that these same individuals noticed that sometimes it pays to ponder and think deeply before opening their mouth to criticize. To make it clear, in no way do I want to sound arrogant and make you think that we referees are too good for our boots. We are humans and being such, we make mistakes.

Keeping with the same idea, I really like the example set by the Italian basketball federation whereby in order to obtain even the elementary coaching licence, coaches have got to referee a minimum number of matches, for example 30 matches to get a senior B license.