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How would you define a referee? Well, let me tell you what my definition is.
A referee is an arbitrator, a one-man judge, jury and executioner, and, as such, he has to be seen to be absolutely neutral, objective, honest and transparent in every decision he makes because no matter what the decision is, he’s going to offend one side or the other.
My reason for using the words ‘cosy up’ in the above heading is from what I witnessed recently at a game where Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was seen hugging the fourth official on the touchline after his side had beaten Borussia Dortmund in the Uefa Champions League match at Wembley Stadium in London.
It was a comprehensive win for the London side and, some experts said, was unexpected and flattering.
For the cynical and suspicious fan, it didn’t look good. Immediately, the opposition supporters were thinking that there was something going on between the Spurs manager and the match official.
The optics were bad and the belief, albeit totally untrue, could be that there was favouritism.
There is absolutely no evidence to suggest any form of skulduggery, and nothing could be further from the truth in this case, but do you see where I’m coming from?
During my time in South Africa, and having refereed at the highest level in my adopted country, there was always an underlying belief that some of the referees and assistant referees (or linesmen as they were called then) operating in the former National Professional Soccer League, the National Soccer League and now the PSL were in collusion with certain teams.
This speculative narrative was directed at me once or twice, and more at some of my colleagues.
The reason was because some match officials became too familiar and “close” to certain managers and coaches.
So was there and is there still reason to be suspicious? The jury is out on that one. Suffice it to say that there has been speculation around for some time that corruption is taking place, especially in the so-called lower divisions, and this needs to be investigated and rooted out.
Any form of match-fixing or “money-taking” by referees to influence the outcome of a match is reprehensible and like a cancer in our game. Those partaking in such activity, be they match officials or team owners/coaches, should be exposed and should face due process.
Video assistant referee
I’m sure you’re all aware of the video assistant referee (VAR) system and what it’s supposed to do.
I watched a Uefa Champions League game on Wednesday night between German side Schalke and Manchester City of England, during which the VAR was “used”.
It took the referee three minutes to make a decision. Why? Because the VAR wasn’t working.
I kid you not. In this day of modern technology, a simple thing like a monitor/screen couldn’t be found to work.
The game was held up for an inordinate length of time, which prompted howls of derision and booing from the fans. I agree. It took too long, but then we discovered that the system wasn’t actually working.
The referee had little to rely on. You could see the unfortunate man in the middle was in a real pickle.
He should have stuck with his original decision (no penalty), which was, in my opinion, correct.
It centred on a hand ball. The law says that the hand/arm has to be moving towards the ball and not the ball towards the hand for a penalty to be awarded.
In this instance, the player could be clearly seen drawing his hand/arm back, but the referee gave the penalty on the advice of the guy operating the VAR.
It was the wrong decision and the penalty was scored.
Happy whistling!
. Follow me on Twitter @dr_errol
. Do you have a refereeing question for Sweeney? If so, please send your question to sports@citypress.co.za or SMS the keyword JUDGE to 35697
