The following is an essay by Jeffrey Caminsky, author of, The Referee's Survival Guide
Game Etiquette Toward Officials
Unlike some sports, soccer gives its officials nearly total discretion over the
conduct of the game. With few exceptions, fouls are matters of opinion or
judgment, and the rules encourage the referee not to call fouls when doing so
would help the offending team. The continuous nature of the game means that it
the opinion of the referee � and nobody else � that determines whether a
challenge is fair or foul, whether a high kick presents a danger to another
player, or whether a particular incident justifies a caution or send-off. And
under the Laws of the Game, the referee�s decision on any such point is final,
and is not to be questioned.
Under the rules, the referee�s authority starts when he arrives at the field of
play, and stops only when he leaves. This means that once he shows up, and
whatever his age or level of experience, the referee is in command of the field.
Incidents occurring before, during, or after the game are within his
jurisdiction, and subject to his control. Coaches or players confronting
officials after the game have no immunity, and are still liable for any
misconduct that the referee decides to punish, even if the game is over.
Dissent
From the perspective of coaches, players, and spectators, the least understood
justification for a caution is probably the offense of �dissent.� The rules
provide that participants can be �cautioned and shown the yellow card� for
showing �dissent by word or action� from any decision of the referee. This is to
make sure that calls are not subject to the endless committee discussions that
sometimes interrupt other sports, and that the game resumes as quickly as
possible.
Most referees will not punish outbursts of disappointment that fade quickly, and
will gladly explain a particular call in response to a polite inquiry. Still,
each referee has a different tolerance for griping and, under the Rules, each
limit is equally valid. In other words, a coach or player who utters a word of
protest at any call by any of the officials may be ignored, admonished, warned,
or cautioned, at the referee�s sole discretion. And the permissible level of
grumbling for any game depends on that game�s referee, who is well within his
authority to punish any showing of disagreement.
In most leagues, coaches are responsible for the behavior of their team�s
spectators. This means that a referee whose patience is gone may choose to treat
any adverse comments from the sidelines as coming from the coach, and take
action against the coach. Or, if he prefers, the referee may simply suspend the
game until the offending party leaves. From a practical standpoint, this means
that referees may banish anyone, or everyone, from a team�s sidelines. They may
refuse to continue the game until everyone dismissed from the field has left �
to any distance they specify as a point of retreat. Or, they may simply declare
the match abandoned, if the offending parties insist on staying. The rules grant
the referee full authority to take whatever action he deems appropriate to
maintain or restore order on the field.
Still, despite the wide range of their power and authority, most officials are
reluctant to dismiss participants or spectators. They hope to calm emotions
rather than inflame them, and do what they can to keep everyone in the game.
Forbearance is not a right, though, and coaches need to remind their parents of
the need to avoid �riding the refs.� This, in turn, helps keep the sidelines
under control, and the players focused on the game.
Dealing with Mistakes
Under the rules, everyone must accept and deal with any decision by the referee
during the game. Mistaken or not, the referee is part of the game, and organized
soccer regards any referee decision on any point of fact as final. This does not
mean that you can do nothing to protest the conduct of abusive or inept
officials. However, the right way to make a complaint is not by shouting and
screaming at the official during the match, but by documenting the incident in
writing and filing a report with your soccer club. Your club will review the
report and, if appropriate, send it to the proper authorities. Before you do,
though, there are a few things you need to know:
First and foremost, formal protests will succeed only if they involve a
referee�s mistaken application of the rules � and, even then, only if the
mistake had an effect on the outcome of the game. By contrast, informal
�protests� can do much to improve the quality of officiating within your club.
By bringing mistakes in rules or judgment to the attention of your soccer club,
you help educate the referees by alerting their supervisors to officials who
need to be monitored more closely, and those who need special help. You also may
help identify the rules that are giving your referees particular problem in
application. The procedure for making an informal complaint is usually simple:
just bring the matter to the attention of the club�s referee coordinator.
The Referee�s Judgment
Judgment calls belong to the Referee: you cannot change them, screaming about
them will only get you in trouble, and protesting them will not change the
result of any game. In addition, referees cannot see everything, or they may see
a particular play differently than you do, and expecting them to call a �perfect
game� from your team�s perspective is simply unrealistic. If, however, if your
team was the victim of a pattern of favoritism or bias, it may indicate a
shortcoming on the part of the official which needs correcting for future games.
To document such a pattern, your report should contain a �foul chart,�detailing
the official�s discretionary calls. This chart should contain a separate listing
for both teams, indicating (whenever possible) the player fouling, the player
fouled, the timing of the foul (by minute), and noting in some way whether the
resulting free kick was direct, indirect, or a penalty kick. This can be
time-consuming and frustrating, and you should also be aware that disparities in
calling fouls often reflects nothing more than differences in playing styles:
for example, a team relying on its speed and quickness to win the ball may foul
less frequently than one that relies on the physical strength of its players;
and an aggressive, attacking team will often commit more fouls than one which
relies on ball control and finesse. Therefore, your report should acknowledge
this, and contain some indication of the styles and playing levels of both
teams.
Coaches, parents, and players watch the game with their hearts, and complaints
about officials often reflect nothing more than sour grapes: the same referee
whom the losing team regards as an idiot may get high praise from the winners.
Therefore, any complaint you make about an official should be as objective and
unbiased as you can make it.
If you are going to complain about the officiating at your game, make sure that
neither you, nor your team, gave the officials any cause for complaint at the
field. The surest way to have your complaints ignored is to allow the referee to
respond: �They were on my case the entire game, they complained about every call
that went against them, and when their coach wouldn�t keep quiet after his first
yellow card I finally had to issue a second, just to get some peace and quiet.�
Lastly, it is often tempting for players and parents to blame the officials when
a team loses. But coaches who permit or encourage such attitudes should make
sure to give the referee all the credit when their team wins.
A Neutral Set of Eyes
Referees do not care who wins or loses. They are there to make sure that nobody
wins by cheating. Like the players, they trying their very best. And just like a
player will not deliberately try to pass the ball to an opponent, or score on
his own goal, no referee will ever make a mistake on purpose. Soccer is a
wonderful sport, and a source of joy for fans and players around the world. But
to play the game we need referees to provide a neutral set of eyes to settle the
inevitable disputes. It is a game of passion and adventure, and cheering for
your team with all your heart is a large part of its appeal. But we must all be
careful not to let our enthusiasm turn into hostility toward the officials when
things don�t turn out our way. There will always be another day, and another
game to play. And like the weather, you may find next week�s referee to be more
to your liking.
This does not mean that next week�s referee is better than this week�s, any more
than rain is inherently better than sunshine (just ask any farmer). Referees are
just a condition of play that both teams must deal with on a given day. But
while adapting to wind or rain strikes us as perfectly natural, many of us feel
free to howl at the referee when things aren�t going our way. Perhaps it�s
because screaming at the referee gives us someone to blame for our
troubles...while screaming at the rain would make us feel foolish.
�2007 by Jeffrey Caminsky