In Defense of Refs

In case you've been living in a hole for the last two weeks, it's World Cup time. In the US, it seems like the most watched sporting event in the world has finally come to our shores, or maybe it's just that my family has cable now so I can actually watch it. Along with the fervor of the Cup has come controversy surrounding the refs, and the US National Team was right in the thick of it (that is, up until yesterday, when we were once again bested by Ghana). It seems like every time there is a major competition for international soccer bragging rights, there is controversy over a referee's call. Just today, England was shorted a goal when the ref failed to see that the ball crossed the goal line. And don't even get me started on Koman Coulibaly. Right now, there is much debate over whether to use technology to assist the referee in making the correct call. FIFA seems firmly against it, but the cry for change grows louder with each missed call, each wrongly disallowed goal (or two). My opinion on that debate can wait for another time.

Today, I would like to speak as a former youth soccer ref and lover of the game:

Lay off the refs.

Yeah, I said it.

It's easy for us in our comfortable lounge chairs to deem something a terrible call. Ask anyone in my family, I did my fair share--more than my fair share--of complaining about the calls last Friday (and Saturday...and Sunday...and...). But coming from someone who has made a terrible call, had perfectly correct calls criticized, been called names and cursed at, I can say with full conviction that being the person with the whistle is not easy. And that was with 14 year olds. Imagine trying to make accurate calls at the speed of play at the World Cup, where the difference between a clean challenge and a hard dangerous tackle is inches. In addition we expect the ref to read the mind of the player rolling on the pitch while dealing with the sheer noise of 40,000+ screaming, vuvuzela playing fans who think they know the game better and can see events more clearly from their nose bleed seats. While we're at it, let's not forget that the ref is running just as much as the players, at least 3 miles and probably more, while expected to make perfect decisions every single time. It is not an easy job.

Compare the job of the three referees on the field in soccer (four, if you count the fourth official, but he doesn't really do much) to that of the seven on the field in American football (plus the guy in the replay booth in the college game). Granted, the sport is a bit different, and there is much more contact. But I would wager that it is just as difficult to sort out the scrum in the goal box on a corner kick or set play as it is to untangle the line of scrimmage. And refs in American football have the advantage of the replay and the flag system. They have the opportunity to take back their mistakes. It's not so with soccer. Once the whistle is blown, it's blown and it can't be taken back.

So, I say it again. Lay off the refs. They are human and make mistakes. Does FIFA need to change the way they handle the missed calls and unsavory situations? Yes. But leave the refs alone, at least during the match. They can't be blamed for FIFA's refusal to step into the 21st Century and embrace technology. Oh, and a little ref accountability wouldn't hurt.