Our weekly refereeing feature from local official Paul Richards who picks up on the big decisions in the game and some of the other issues that effect the sport we all love.
So what to say about refereeing this week.
Well, I am going to address the issue of diving and the comparison of respect towards referees in football to that of referees in rugby.
Diving is simply a disease in the game that simply will not go away. No matter what treatment is given, it will always rear its ugly head.
From Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler diving against Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman to then get up and apologise to Manchester United’s Ashley Young who pretty much does it every game. Diving has been around for years.
What exactly can an official do about it? Well, I can say right now that I have been the victim of diving twice already this season. I made the wrong decision on both occasions and awarded a penalty when the attacking player had in fact dived.
It is not an easy decision or indeed, situation to be in as an official. Unless the referee is two yards behind the offending or go against positioning and run in front of the ball, not much can be done on a consistent basis particularly with the naked and so much to watch for already.
Take Wayne Rooney for Manchester United against Preston North End in the FA Cup on Monday evening. It happened so quickly that as an official, you have to decide several different things in a split second. It is a huge shame, but it is so difficult to get that call correct all of the time and inevitably a few can slip through the fingers.
This is one issue that I feel the extra assistants would be a benefit to the game. I mentioned this in a previous article for TEB. I feel officials could get a lot more help making the decisions. Such things as a noise or seeing the contact from another point of view would really help the issue.
I do not feel that there is a fool proof solution and if I am honest, it will remain a problem for the game until it becomes a criminal offence. Perhaps players should stand up and be counted and act a little more professionally and help referees a little in what is such a difficult job.
This next question is asked of me quite often and it is why referees in rugby appear to get much more respect than referees in football. Well, here is the truth. Rugby referees wear a microphone which is linked to the television studio as well as live coverage.
Just look at the Six Nations that is currently taking place or the coverage of the Super League on Sky. Cameras on the referees and a microphone so everyone can hear a conversation is obviously going to put off a player from swearing, arguing and generally being rude to an official. I think this is something that would enhance the game of football and should be introduced and then harsher penalties can be enforced.
I want to refer to my first piece I wrote for TEB where I said that the standards of refereeing are so different across the leagues. I lay it down very quickly at the start of the game. If a player swears at me, then they are off. I do not care if players agree with my decisions., I am not paid enough to be down trodden on by a player.
The pitch is mine for the duration of the game to officiate on and players will get a shock if they think that they can swear or shout things at me and get away with it. I suppose this is why I have had to give six red cards in just eight games. What I do get is respect and co-operation from managers and players. I always say, I will speak to a player once and then if it carries on then he or she is off.
Referees need to be stronger and forget about their ambition for promotion to allow them to referee properly. I am a tough no nonsense referee and I will never change.
Let us hope someone at the Football Association gets a backbone and starts to think the same.
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