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.
Mark
Guest
I'd suggest the A-League has some of the worst Officials in the game
Mark
Guest
Have you seen them in action? Its hard to attribute the performances to anything else
Mark
Guest
Have you watched any A-League games? The refs haven't a clue what the rules are The standard of officiating in the A-League is amongst the worst in the world The Protocols for VAR is shambolic This is one of the worst run Competitions anywhere The Phoenix are regularly on the end of some diabolical decisions - for actions that their opponents have just waved away There is clearly bias against the NZ side Anyone with an open mind and no eye patches on can see that Rudan was right to call it out Since when is respect not earnt Since when is respect used as an excuse to cover up incompetence No wonder the A-League is rubbish
oldpsyco
Guest
Unfortunately, Kossy is Right! Respect IS earned not given! It is Also a TWO-WAY Street! If you don't show respect you will not receive it! But none of that matters, because the article is all about how YOU interpreted Rudan's comments. And you interpret them in the most controversial way possible that will provide a media article. Your not worried about the Referees, or the game, your worried about hits. And that is whats wrong with the A-League at the moment! Everybody is looking to find fault, no-one is enjoying what is right about football. Its not all wrong! Get behind the sport that gives you a job!
Kangas
Roar Rookie
I agree the coach should not be on the sidelines
jbinnie
Guest
I have been watching top class football for 50 years now and I would like someone to explain to me why managers have to sit only metres away from the playing surface. Remember, it is full time professional football we are talking about and it is only in comparatively recent times we,as spectators and viewers, have had to put up with almost constant screen shots of these highly paid people being beamed to us by TV cameramen eager for a close up, but obviously oblivious to how their "subject matter" appears to viewers, as they prance around ,gesticulating, and mouthing off at anyone who will listen. An extremely well qualified teaching coach once asked me how long did I spend with my players at training and when he was told 10 hours he asked another question,are you not getting your "message " over in those 10 hours?,because if not, it is not your players you should be shouting at , you need to self examine your coaching methods. Think carefully about the wisdom contained in those words and ask yourself ,do we really need coaches/managers as TV personalities on a match day. Send them back to the stands where just because of a simple matter of angles. they will get a far better view of how their game plan formation is working. Cheers jb.
Fadida
Roar Rookie
Are you serious? There are managers fined on a weekly basis. Just this week Cardiff manager Neil Warnock called the referee a "trainee". Btw, they have controversial decisions and huge disquiet about reffing standards as well, so much so they want VAR!!
coolncold
Roar Rookie
"John Kosmina says the referees can’t play the game themselves and therefore don’t understand the mechanics of it", https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/john-kosmina-says-the-referees-dont-understand-the-mechanics-of-the-game/news-story/6b6114a8da7f20a42f1e11d9b7f1bac9 What is his position in Fox Sports? Paid journalist? Guest? Commentator? Football expert? Is he employed to make people entertained?
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
must be something in the water in SA
paul
Guest
The aforementioned John Kosmina was unable to sit on the sidelines at a Grand Final following a tirade of abuse directed at a referee back in February 2007. His comments should be put in context.
alexgibb
Roar Rookie
I completely agree here. Referees need much more respect from the media and coaches. I would note though that the referees have been pretty poor in explaining decisions(bar the first Sydney derby issue, and even then there were more qns that could have been answered). One thing I had noticed when the VAR issue was blowing up is that all the major ref associations had published information about the impact of the VAR; Italy noted improvements in reducing simulation, Germany noted that decisions were too "nitpicky" and taking too long in the first half season of its implementation, and the Americans also released data about its impact. What did we get from Aussie refs association?......"Crickets". One wonders why this is the case.
Objective
Guest
The reality is that football worldwide has a culture problem in this regard. Pretty hard to expect respect towards officials when players & managers continually throw arms in the air like petulant kindergarten kids, scream at the sideline officials when they are obviously not the ones out in the middle, scream into the ref's face from centimeters, etc, etc. Kosmina talks about earning respect. But respect is a 2 way street. Why would anyone respect players or managers who conduct themselves like this? Until the governing bodies get truly serious about this issue, and eliminate it from the game, even if it means mandatory red cards or other serious sanctions, then nothing will change.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Accusing an official of having an agenda to favour one side or the other is always beyond the pale, no matter what sport it occurs in, and should never be tolerated. My experience is solely with cricket umpiring - the few times I've ever stepped in and really fed it to a player was when they attacked my motivation for giving a decision - I'll happily cop their opinion about the decision itself, but whenever they question my motivation for making it - that is when it becomes immediately unacceptable. Bill Harrigan marched Gordon Tallis, QLD captain, in that Origin game around 2002 because he called him a cheat. That was the best response I've ever seen from one of the better officials in any code, given the match situation and who Harrigan was dealing with at the time - it should never be tolerated
Richv
Roar Rookie
I agree with your comments. The constant bickering by players at the referee is appalling in football. But at present those that make the most noise get the most attention, so it becomes even more so as games go on. Take that away and you will reduce the pressure the referees are under. The best refs are those that you notice the least during a game, and the best you can hope for is consistency of decision making. Unfortunately the A league refs have had a tough start to this season and have often let themselves down on those two points. The VAR does not help. I truly hope they can learn from there mistakes and get better as the comp goes on.
Buddy
Guest
There are a few different subjects at play imo. First is the overall quality of refereeing in A League and in many other competitions for that matter. It is not up to the standard required at present. I find it on the sideline more than anywhere. Assistants not in line with second last defender to make quality offside calls and in many instances don't manage to call throw ins correctly. They make litt like contribution to foul p l at on their side of the field and are constantly deferring to the referee for decisions. The VAR is a second point, it should be there to assist decision making but it appears all too often to be used to ridicule and berate officials by commentators. Kosmina and co- I confess to not watching or listening to anything after the whistle has blown. I have no need of it, nor do I have any value for their opinions and in the case in point I'm glad to have only read about it in passing. If I was in a bar with the panel, it might be fun; a bit of banter, a heated discussion followed by a classic bar room brawl would be the most likely outcome. As for Mr Rudan- comments designed to galvanize the troops and make for a siege mentality have been used for a long time.Jose used to excel but has lost his way these days so don't copy and those types of comments should not be overlooked by governing body and dealt with .... so all roads lead back to FFA and leadership!
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
great point reuster75, a point of respect for rugby (Wallabies coach aside). I'd also thought that for players to call for VAR, making TV symbols with hands, was supposed to be a yellow card. That's what they said when it was introduced.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
EPL managers seem to be fairly restrained. Not so here. Funny though, whenever we some (big) clubs make a noise post match we usually read about an apology being issued, as though the refs agree. yes (big club) you were robbed. Never hear any apologies with (smaller) clubs involved.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I watched the game Waz, can't remember the detail but I do recall that we were outplayed. Still, premiers.
Waz
Roar Rookie
You didn’t see the W-League semi-Final between City/Roar last year where she missed a blatant penalty. Not a tricky could have/might have been a penalty but an inexplicable decision to play on that belies belief on replay.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
We do see the occasional assistant, but I probably doubt the ability of the men to handle it really. But still, with our three best refs all hailing from the same State, what's going on?