Far be it for me to question integrity but in view of the recent revelations about match fixing it occurred to me that it is extremely difficult to get complete impartiality. For instance, an English referee would not be able to officiate in tonights match between Manure and Real Madrid. But a German referee is and there are two Germans in the Madrid side. Would it be possible for a French official to referee a Newcastle match?
Have you ever met a football fan who actually doesn't support a team but loves the sport perhaps following a couple of teams? Quite a rarity but they do exist, people like that would make a perfect referee. Referees have to contend with no-end of ****, they have to make quick decisions based of a split second of evidence quite often from an obstructed view point, with two sets of people screaming at them that's just the players and staff! Top referee's should have a psychological evaluation in my opinion but one based more on dishonesty, as there is some poor referee's out there when you look at their facial expression and body language when they've given a bad decision some of them can barely look people in the eyes.
Maybe get robot refs or terminators.... you dived.... 'i'll be back' goes gets a gun and kneecaps the twat that dived
Come on now PJs; of course referees are biased, they have to be. It is impossible not to be. We all have at the very least implicit biases which operate without much consscious thought, but still influence the decisions we make and the attitudes we have. Then there will be occasional referees who are much more obviously biased, although they may over compensate for their bias. I going now, I'm dizzy
Suppose you have 75,000 people at Old Trafford screaming for a penalty versus, say Wigan (with smallish away support). I bet there are referees who will/would be swayed by the cauldron-like atmosphere and point to the spot, whether they'd had a good view of the infringement or not. Go with the flow, I think it's known as.
I doubt that there is too much bias among the cadre of PL ref's we have today. I know that if you look back into Scotland's recent past there were any number of shockingly biased refs where a Rangers player could virtually kill a Celtic man with no repurcussions from a fellow Lodge-member. I am sure that there were some Catholic refs who would not give Rangers a break either. Similarly in Spain during Franco's time opposing teams couldn't buy a decision against Real Madrid. In England we just don't have that level of antipathy and motivation for bias plus if found to be biased a ref could lose his job and throw away a decent career. Not worth it in my opinion. I am sure that we have all been refs or umpires at local sports where teams we have played for have been involved and from personal experience you are harder on your mates than the oppo just to be seen to be fair.
Some referees must have bias. If they have been given a hard time by old Purple Nose, you can't tell me that they won't be looking for the next time they referee Manure and the specific points that were brought up. The referee for the Celtic game had a bias. Not particularly for either team but for his own future employment. There was no way he was going to give a penalty for any of the incidents at set pieces. Avoid controversy even though you should be giving obvious decisions. And ironically against a team heavily involved in match fixing themselves. And who wouldn't fix matches if the punishment was a mere touchline ban! Last night's referee was quite happy to admonish and punish Manure players for the slightest touch on "Sylvia" Ramos, and yet let him get away with a blatant elbow himself, a player who has been suspended 23 times! But in that cauldron, he was never going to give too much against Madrid.
I referee local football every weekend and I have had to send my son off in days gone by! He knew it was going to be a red card and thankfully he accepted my decision but the important thing is that I showed impartiality and fairness. He even paid the fine! If you take the game last night Real Madrid should have gone down to 10 men after a blatant foul on Evra and yet the referee who was 5 yards behind play chose not to even give a free kick! Mind you any poor decisions given against Manure are fine with me!
Referees have it tough to an extent. The fines to managers and players for accusing referees of being inept or biased are a deterrent to stop this sort of thing from going on. It maintains the integrity of referees and stops any accusations escalating. It can be done for players and managers but it can't be done for fans.
The problem is that some referees are just completely inept and deserve to be criticised afterall they are paid for the privilege and their decisions can ultimately decide the fate of a team or a manager.
Referee allegiances are more of a problem lower down. I remember a couple of years a go, the 'keeper of the local under 16 team was playing away. A ball was passed back to him and he started to do Keely ups. The referee hen cam over to him and booked him. When he was asked at the end of the match why he was booked the ref replied 'for taking the piss.' In a different away match the same 'keeper had a loose ball come back to him and as in any other match - grassroots or professional - he left the ball at his feet to waste time. As you see fairly often as the striker came bearing down on him the 'keeper casually picked the ball up resulting in a talking to from the ref for 'wasting time' with the threat of a booking if it happened again. The ball was in open play so he wasn't wasting time in the sense of taking his time at a throw-in or corner. It's ridiculous!
The bigger problem at grassroots level are the club appointed assistants which always turns out to be a coach! The number of times I have had to have a strong word and in some cases replace them due to them coaching the players as well as running the line! And dubious off-side calls are the stuff of nightmares!
No professional referees in the Premiership are biased, bloody useless at times yes, but "biased"? Definitely not, it would be impossible in a position so transparent. I actually think half the time it's the linesmen (I won't say women because Sian Massey is bloody good!) who are the problem, they make some absolutely shocking calls but it's always the ref who always gets the headlines.
I had a goal line clearance one like that in a kids cup game. Long clearance completely missed by the 'keeper so it was rolling into an open net. I'm stuck halfway into the other teams half, and can't even see the goal-line (specsavers jokes not appreciated!), never mind whether the ball was over, so had to go with the assistants call. When he's the coach of the goalkeeper's side, it was never going to be in! It's been brought up before, but I really wish refs did interviews, even if they were fairly tame and the interviewer couldn't really push them. I'm going to have a lot more sympathy for a ref if he's explained his view of a dodgy call, with a chance to apologise a bit to fans if it was the wrong call. If refs are shown to be honest professionals just making mistakes in a difficult situation, people will relate to them more. I'd also like to hear what some of them think about the use of technology, as they'll be most effected by it. Also, watching the Celtic - Juve game, what on earth are the extra officials behind the goals for? With Hooper being wrestled to the ground by defenders repeatedly, surely they could be asked to keep an eye on it? Also, they should be in the position to decide whether the second goal was over the line at the first time of asking or not.
I really would like refs to do interviews after the game but I can see why they don't. The officials behind the goal don't seem to make any decisions. Although I've heard that they are not allowed to make any signals but really they should. Even with them there there still seems to be bad goal line or penalty decisions.
Read Malcolm Gladwell's book's which illustrate how many basic psychological processes operate. Of course they have a bias, it is an impossibility fot them not to have implicit biases. Go and try the implicit association test, and see how biased we all are, even if we don't think we are. Referees will have implicit associations that will interfere with decision making, so rather than immediately blow the whistle, it may be delayed a fraction, bu which point another incident may have occured or that it seems too long has passed to call the play back etc.
