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The #respect campaign is something to be embraced by all.
It seeks to promote respect in relationships and empower people to play positive roles in their communities. In spite of that message, many still struggle with the basic principles of acceptance, tolerance and social justice.
Sadly, that struggle plays out as verbal and physical violence far too often and the campaign calls for awareness and action when it comes to breaking the cycle. There is no section of the community immune to the issue; whether it be in a domestic, occupational or social setting, violence lives and breathes uncomfortably close to all of us.
Football and sport, in general, reflect the failings of broader society. Recent events in England have once again seen one of the most common and disgusting forms of discrimination rear its head, with black men subjected to racial taunts; both alleged and confirmed.
Just five weeks ago, Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young was racially and culturally abused in Mudgee by a so-called fan of the Wanderers. The club acted swiftly and accordingly, blotting out that individual from our game.
Thankfully, that event is infrequent, even rare, in Australian football. While more common elsewhere in Australian sport, where the collective brain cell shared by some supporter groups is strained and stretched to the point of becoming non-operational, football generally embraces difference and encourages a certain level of respect for almost all its participants.
The exception is referees. Despite lip service being paid to the officials both here and across the globe, it appears that the men and women involved in on-pitch decision making have been somewhat thrown to the VAR wolves.
So much so, that A-League referees and assistants made a silent and quite understandable statement of protest in Round 8; covering up the #RESPECT logo that adorns the sleeve of their shirts.
It was a move strongly discouraged by the FFA yet one that took place on the insistence of the officials, who it appears, have had well and truly enough.
Their protest was in specific relation to comments made by Mark Rudan after Wellington Phoenix had dropped two points against Perth Glory, following a good old fashioned dose of VAR intervention.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Rudan’s words were laced with contextual aggression and suggested that the decisions made by officials on the day were reflective of the broader view that Wellington aren’t valuable to, or worthy of a place in the A-League. It was an astonishing outburst that warranted action from the FFA.
Rudan’s inference was that of bias and decisions made for reasons other than the visual evidence available.
The FFA’s response could best be described colloquially as…crickets!
It was a response that obviously infuriated the officials.
The planned protest was discussed at some length on Fox Sports in the lead up to Friday night’s rather strange encounter between the Victory and Roar at Suncorp.
Adam Peacock appeared somewhat baffled by the FFA’s reaction, or lack of it and questioned John Kosmina as to whether he was surprised by the silent approval given to Rudans’ words.
Kosmina’s response reeked of a vindictive and vengeful manager. After clearly stating his belief that respect is earned and not given out freely without cause (a view diametrically opposed to the basic principles of the social action campaign), the ex-Socceroo enunciated his point by suggesting that ultimate responsibility lay with the referees, who need to ‘get it right on the pitch.’
I was a little stunned by Kosmina’s comments and Peacock probed the 62-year-old further, enquiring whether he agreed that Rudan’s words had indeed crossed a line. Kosmina said quite bluntly, ‘I didn’t read it that way.’
In reality, Kosmina’s view gives a manager the right to question the integrity of an official and suggest that decisions made were not impartial and fuelled by some overarching conspiracy or agenda against their team.
Is that something we want in the A-League, press conferences or sport in general? I don’t.
I wrote openly at the time of my belief that the Phoenix were indeed robbed by an appalling decision. There have been many others and Markus Babbel, John Aloisi, Kevin Muscat and Rudan himself are four managers with a right to demand answers.
Yet demanding answers and questioning the integrity of an official are two completely different things. Something that the referees and assistants wanted us to realise over the weekend.
They covered up the logo because they were insulted and hurt. They were emotionally bruised after being slighted and accused of something they would never do; favour a side, one way or another.
Whilst the officials would undoubtedly admit to being far from perfect, they would also cite a rather undeveloped and misused VAR system that has made their role, ironically, more difficult than it once was.
They might also boldly suggest that the notion of respect being earned, as promoted by Kosmina, should also apply to spitting, swearing and abusive managers on the sidelines. The general behaviour of A-League managers and other members of team benches is appalling and inflammatory; all in the name of passion mind you, yet apparently the suits can withhold respect from the whistle-blowers based on poor decisions?
It is a two-way street and all founded in something called relationship. That relationship was well and truly strained by Rudan with his comments. I shared his pain, watching a team punished harshly by a horrid decision.
However, his words were personal, insulting and bordering on defamatory. In essence, they showed no respect at all, no matter how crap a decision it may have been.
At least Rudan has the ‘heat of the moment’ excuse. I’m not sure what Kosmina’s is.