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Guardians of the rule book have been a target for abuse since before Yabba was but a twinkle in his mother’s eye.
Umpires and referees have the unenvious task of deciding in real time what you and I get to expertly decipher after slow-motion replays from multiple angles.
Get a decision right and they’re just doing their job. Make a blunder and condemnation rains down on them from all angles.
This weekend, A-League referees Jarred Gillett and Chris Beath will be watching the two semi-finals from the couch.
They’ve been dropped after making some blunders in the preliminary finals last weekend.
Gillett wrongly awarded a late penalty to the Melbourne Victory while also sending off Perth Glory defender Steve Pantelidis (for a second bookable offence) in the process.
In contrast, Beath’s failure to take action against terrible tackles by Brisbane’s Stef Nijland and Adelaide’s Tomi Juric led to him being benched.
The players are frustrated and have been for some time.
One leading A-League star told me this season that it was getting to the point where the performance of the officials was hurting the game as a whole.
He wasn’t angry at them. Instead, he felt sorry for the referees because they were the only ones out on the field who weren’t full-time professionals.
After work two nights a week the 15 contracted A-League referees are put through their paces. One session is tactical and the other is fitness.
It’s hardly enough to be able to do the job properly.
It’s time the A-League got serious with its officials and gave them the support they need to do the job.
The competition has barged its way into the mainstream.
The high profile signings of Alessandro Del Piero, Emile Heskey and Shinji Ono knocked down the door, but once people stepped inside they got an appreciation for what the rest of us have known for some time.
The standard of play in the A-League is actually quite good and players outside of the big three are extremely talented.
The remarkable run of the Western Sydney Wanderers, whose season has been an overwhelming success regardless of what happens against the Brisbane Roar tomorrow night, has also brought one of the largest and most important markets in the country in from the cold.
The competition, if managed correctly from here, can continue to break down the barriers and entrench itself within families across the country.
But few things seem to harm football more than poor refereeing decisions.
It seems to create larger waves than blunders by officials in other sports to the extent that the credibility of the code is questioned.
The referees need greater support not a larger amount of criticism. It’s a thankless, unforgiving and insanely difficult job.
The whistle blowers need to prepare like elite officials to operate in an elite competition.
A-League boss Damien de Bohun has signalled his intention to review the situation at the end of the season.
That process shouldn’t take too long because there’s only one answer.
They need to be full-time professionals just like the players.
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