| Respecting the Whistle (July 2005) |
By Jay Martin
It was amazing. As I watched a recent club soccer game between a team from Troy, Mich., and one from Columbus, Ohio, I noticed that the officials did not make one correct call – not one! Every time the whistle blew one half of the players, coaches and parents screamed at the man in the middle. You would think the Law of Averages would dictate that the official would make at least one good call. Apparently not. Is this a problem only in Ohio? Only with youth teams? Only in the USA? No, unfortunately, it is a global problem. To wit:
- Former French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez abused and spat on an official in Morocco during a “friendly.”
- A recent article in the London Times reported that “…junior football is now too stressful for many referees.” The article discussed the high number of youth officials who are quitting soccer officiating because of the abuse.
- After watching Wayne Rooney tell an official to f*** off 10 times in one minute on national TV, the Secondary (school) Heads Association declared that professional footballers were “…undermining attempts to instill discipline in schools by showing a complete lack of respect for referees.”
- FIFA published a three-part article on its website pleading for respect for officials from fans and players.
- FIFA president Sepp Blatter, in an interview, said that the lack of respect for officials is a huge problem for soccer.
- Andres Frisk,a respected international official, resigned after accusations of impropriety from Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho during a Champions League game led to death threats against Frisk and his family.
- Referee Urs Meier received more than 16,000 hostile e-mails after Euro 2004 for a call against England in a game against Portugal.
- Referee Luiz Carlos Silva was in a fistfight on the field in Brazil when a fan attacked him during a game.
- The list goes on….
What has happened to the “beautiful game”? These are not isolated incidents, and they are not confined to other countries. While soccer at all levels and in all countries has its own unique problems, there is one problem in soccer that is universal and growing – lack of respect for officials. Abuse of officials has become an accepted behavior of our soccer culture. It is not only unacceptable, but it is pushing soccer in this country (and others) toward a crisis. If this behavior continues the “beautiful game” will not have officials and not be very beautiful.
This is not an overstatement. The German Soccer Federation says that although 8,000 new officials are registered each year, 10,000 quit the game in that same time span, resulting in a net loss of 2,000 officials annually. French referee Bertrand Layec told the New York Times, “I can guarantee you that, without change, there won’t be many of us wanting to referee when you know there is a ‘revolver’ at your head.” This statement came in the wake of a threat against his family after a recent game. UEFA Treasurer Mathieu Sprengers said, “It is a very serious matter when referees are threatened to such an extent that they give up the job. Being a referee is a very difficult profession.”
FIFA President Sepp Blatter claims the answer is professional referees like the NBA. He claims this is the answer to all the problems in officiating – make it a profession. While that may work in Europe, it will not work in the United States. Respect here for officials has ebbed. The respect for authority has ebbed. Verbal abuse, cheating and defiance occur in our schools sometimes, but they occur more frequently outside the school and specifically in sports. Not only is this type of behavior increasing, it is often condoned and even appreciated by parents and coaches. This type of abuse of officials is often accepted and explained as “gamesmanship.”
Referee abuse is not limited to the professional leagues. How many times have you yelled at a young man or woman at a club game? Teenagers who are trying to learn to officiate are being abused with every call. It is no wonder that the ones who make it through to officiate at a higher level are hardened and simply do not want to talk to coaches, parents or players.
How often have you, as a coach, blamed an official for a loss? How many times have you blamed an official for a win?
As the number of referees decrease, the game will suffer. The first step will be coaches having to double as coach and referee for games. This already has started to happen in England. The London Times reports that the FA has only 31,800 registered referees and every weekend more than 40,000 amateur teams play. The result is that the coaches or very young referees are officiating the games in the junior leagues. Both “solutions” are a problem.
So, what’s the answer? That is a very difficult question.
The FA has issued “Code of Conduct” forms to all parents and coaches of youth soccer. This has helped with awareness of the problem and even decreased abuse in some communities. In addition, English teams are now fencing off playing fields and insisting that fans stay behind the fence. Will this work in the U.S.?
Perhaps we can increase an emphasis on fair play. FIFA and UEFA both have increased an awareness of “Fair Play” awards and even have made fair play by fans and players towards officials a high priority. Maybe we should adopt the Dutch model. In Holland children under age 10 play in less competitive environments, with an emphasis on skill instead of competition. The weekend “competition” really is an intramural type of environment played within the team or training group. No score is kept, no results posted and no pressure to win Would this work in the U.S.?
The real answer is to have all coaches act as role models and simply stop abusing the officials – and have their players stop abusing officials. If coaches told their players that they would come out of the game when they yell at an official or when they receive a card for dissent, abuse would decline. It is not very hard. Coaches should also demand that the parents of their players offer only positive encouragement to the team and not abuse officials. It is not very hard.
Or maybe the most effective answer would be to adopt the rules of rugby. There is a lot of respect of officials in rugby. “In rugby,” says Ian Howe, a soccer coach in north London, “when the referee makes a decision, the player stands with hands behind the back and says ‘yes sir’ before play resumes.”
It is not hard. And it is up to you! |
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