Solution to the refereeing problems

Today, I will attempt to offer a possible reason as to why there has been some woeful refereeing decisions at this year’s (and indeed previous) World Cup.

Of the referees chosen to officiate at the World Cup, only a select few are then picked for round of 16, quarters, etc. FIFA select officials for finals by performance at the group stage.

On the surface this looks like a fair and reasonable way of doing things. But what are the underlying factors? We can safely assume that there must be some criteria performed well to show how good a referee is.

1. Positioning – we can assume a referee’s decisions are based on their positioning in the game. If a ref has bad positioning he will not be picked.

2. Ground covered – a ref must keep up with the game and not be caught in back play.

3. Acknowledgement of assistants – using and communicating well with his assistants to get the decisions right.

4. Consistency – being unbiased with calls.

5. Simple things – as a referee myself, one of the most fundamental things we were taught was how to use our whistle, how to indicate throw ins etc, and how to behave. These obviously must be done right.

6. Communication with players – a ref who awards free kicks but does not talk to players as to why will always cause problems.

7. Time-keeping – including extra time, a ref must know when and where to end a game. For instance, not on a corner kick.

8. Errors – obviously a ref must strive to ensure no errors are made.

If anyone else can think of others please let me know, but I think these eight are probably the most likely criteria to be met.

Now, as every referee is having every group game performance assessed, by an intimidating fat bloke with a clip board in the stands (not to mention endless video replays), one can assume referees are under considerable pressure. Think about it; every move you make, every step, every whistle blow is being analysed and just one mistake can spell the end of your World Cup run. Even spell the end of your officiating career.

With many of these top level referee’s depending on their ref wages for a large portion of their livelihood, there is considerable pressure on them.

Could the way FIFA be conducting things be a reason why there are so many howling decisions? As every ref attempts to out do another to get further in the competition, this pressure might just be the deciding factor.

Surely not all referees (especially ones at the World Cup, who are meant to be the best) can be messing up like this on a regular basis in league competitions.

So I put it to FIFA that they decide the refs who are to do what games from the start. Appoint refs who are to do group matches, refs for round of 16 etc.

From those refs there are going to be some who are at the end of their career, some in the middle, and some youngsters just starting to penetrate the highest levels.

FIFA should say “you old ones, we want you to come along to games with us and help us improve these younger ones, you middle ones, we want to prepare you for bigger games in the next World Cup, and you young ones we want to polish you to be world cup regulars in the coming years.”

This way everyone knows what they are doing, there is no pressure to outdo another and the ref only needs to concentrate on the job at hand, not look forward to furthering themselves.

Indeed, it now appears that this may be a large factor contributing to refereeing mistakes. Coupled with the fact that some referees are just useless and I think I may have uncovered the reason as to why there is so much controversy around some of these matches and decisions; after all, the world stage is just as big for referees as it is for players.