Viewpoint on Modern Refereeing (Sports in General)

[Kidkojak]

Hey Guys and Gals.

Genuine Post of intrigue here i have been looking at a lot of Interactions with Refs/Umpires in general and am very interested in everyone's general views on it as some of the discussions have been top notch on here past few days.
In light of the whole Serena Williams Claiming Sexism (I thought her actions where Bratty and Disgusting) and how the Umpire was treated when he seemed to just uphold the rules got me thinking about what people think the best System of Refs/Umpires is in any sport really and how they are or should be spoken too on the field or court of play.

My Humble opinion is that Rugby Union seems to have the smoothest and most respectful Refereeing in terms of Officiating the game.

I know its a little off topic and dont expect to get any replies but feel free to discuss i just think that Refereeing in general is a tough tough Discipline mostly.

 

[Kidkojak]

Also apologies if this should be in the Ale House Section but obviously we have had some dodgy Ref Displays as a club over the years in certain matches so though it was relevant.

 

[Connor]

Cricket has the best.

Footy, the worst. Especially the Prem.

We should play without them really.

 

[summerisle]

You don't see this at Lord's.

 

[jaycee]

Footie refs are gash,though the players dont help

 

[TheBigIguana]

I agree that rugby does a lot of things right. Their use of video referees, access to the communications between referee and video assistant, strict enforcement of only allowing the captain to speak to the ref and only showing straight red cards for actual violent or dangerous acts are all things that football could easily implement and would all improve football in my opinion.

 

[brigadier]

prem refs are all bent , they have bosses to answer to like most of us, money rules.

 

[Flynnthistle]

In Scotland the referee review panel, who decide upon whether a red card should be upheld etc, have literally just admitted to not knowing how to apply the laws of the game and are having to get advice from FIFA.

Football is a simple game, the laws of the game are simple, bodies within football complicate it by adding interpretations that are not held in the laws.

The PGMOL in England are probably the very worst for it. They literally make up the laws as they go without ratification from FIFA, it leaves the the referee's looking foolish as they are giving decisions that just aren't offences, it frustrates players, managers and fans. It's the main reason England had no referee representation at the world cup. That fool Graham Poll summed it up whilst working for BT sport as an "expert" on decisions when he stated, as fact, that any challenge on a goalkeeper in the 6 yard box is a foul, he then continued to reiterate that after the game. Absolute nonsense introduced by a rougue body dictating the style of refereeing in England.

Handball is the one that annoys me the most. The laws of the game clearly dictate it MUST be deliberate. Again these PGMOL morons are guilty of adding all sort of caveats.

 

[Osamabindiesel]

I'd say that the NBA has the most inconsistent officiating. They arbitrarily call 3 second violations and the contact fouls are always a spin of the wheel. It just doesn't make any sense really

 

[Azzurri]

I'd say that the NBA has the most inconsistent officiating. They arbitrarily call 3 second violations and the contact fouls are always a spin of the wheel. It just doesn't make any sense really

Kings vs Lakers in 02 is maybe the most blatant example of fixing in modern sports history.


I think re. the refereeing these days, similarly to what @Flynnthistle said, the rules of football that stood for a hundred years have a suddenly changed every season for 15 years. It must be a nightmare to keep up.

 

[irishtony1878]

I wish that football was reffed in the same manner as Rugby Union.

 

[toffeejack]

rugby is the sport that has the best rules in place, they use laws to benefit themselves, for example WRU not picking welsh players outside wales as they care most about their country, maybe if the English FA cared that much, we wouldn't see such a lack of englishmen playing in the prem. But it always sets the best precedent to combat unfair advantages by constant rule changes, for example, in the scrum. Because of the great structure the sport has though, it allows the refs to run the game, but they also command respect.

Football is the polar opposite. The referee doesn't run the game, the players do. They know they're in charge, the spend a whole hour and a half harassing them and then you have thousands of supporters doing the same, but where's the protection? I always say they should just send off players because they have the authority, but i think they're very weak individuals and the criticism they'd inevitably receive from managers and the media, would probably not seem worth the hassle. It's an unenviable job and that's why i think the quality of their performances are so so dire, because nobody wants to do it and the FA end up having to scrape the barrel to find sheer incompetence. They really don't have a clue what they're doing, you can tell they just take guesses all the time and i think it's mainly because they don't understand the sport enough. A lot of test match umpires in cricket have played the game before, but they have to make very knowledgeable decisions and be eagle eyed for sometimes five days on end. But football refs? You see them make one decision and then the same instance will happen the next week and they'll give the opposite decision.

At the end of the day, everyone's to blame for the ridiculous quality. The FA do nothing to help, i discussed it yesterday, how did we have niasse banned for three games for this new diving law they brought in, when, to me it was a legitimate foul and yet i see hundreds of dives every weekend, not even get punished with a yellow card. That's the ref's fault, they're not following the law, if they followed the rules, they could go some way to eradicate the cheating that goes on. A yellow card isn't going to cut it out, that's for sure but actually booking everyone on the pitch every time the fall over easily sets a precedent in games. Then lastly it's the players' fault. Every single game you see them gobbing off at officials ... even when they get the decision right and they know it's right! It's disgraceful, they have no respect. Like alluded to in the OP, serena williams' outburst was shocking, mainly because it was so unique. Stuff like that in football isn't shocking because it goes on every two minutes.

 

[Ghoat]

I wish FIFA would simply expect, or demand, the referee's enforce the Laws of the Game as they are written.

I mean the ref should have SOME latitude, but
- Simulation is a yellow card. Hand them out like candy
- The captain talks to the ref. If the ref calls the captain aside, and 3 more players follow him protesting, bam bam bam, 3 yellow cards
- You don't touch the ref unless it's incidental contact. If a player does so aggressively, it's yellow if not straight red.
- Time wasting isn't just for keepers. If a player stops play repeatedly for "injuries" then miraculously pops up, that's time wasting. Or, even more simple, if play has to be stopped for an injured player, the physio should automatically enter the pitch. Ergo, if the player is hurt bad enough to stop play, he should step off the pitch until waived back on

By no means are the refs perfect, but IMO, the players are allowed to exert too much control over game-play and too often do not respect the referees, Some of that is on the refs. If they are hesitant to caution early, the game can get away from them as players push the boundaries. That how you wind up with an England-Columbia match, and that hurts the game. Watch most any CONCACAF competitive match, it's awful.

The Laws of the Game already cover all of that, but they are enforced far too selectively. You don't take a spot kick from "about 12 yards" maybe 13 or so, maybe 10. You can't bring in a 4th substitute because the ref thinks it's a really hot day or the teams have run a lot, you get 3, period.

Referees (rightly) get a fair amount of latitude, but they are called "Laws", not "Guidelines" of the Game for a reason. They should be enforced far more consistently.

/rant over

 

[toffeejack]

prem refs are all bent , they have bosses to answer to like most of us, money rules.

i think they're all just massively out of their depth tbh. they just don't understand the sport. They know the rules, but don't understand the game which makes them seem mostly like they don't know the rules.

 

[Ghoat]

I'd say that the NBA has the most inconsistent officiating. They arbitrarily call 3 second violations and the contact fouls are always a spin of the wheel. It just doesn't make any sense really

Agreed, and how many steps you get before traveling is called seems to depend on your position and your all-star status. The sport is unrecognizable at time.