| Refs, Be Consistent |
Officials should make calls consistently in the spirit of the laws
Soccer Journal welcomes responses to this article from officials.
By Len Oliver
Coaches, how often have you stood on the sideline, arms crossed, questioning a referee’s decision, most of the time silently, occasionally vocally? In all my years in the game, I’ve never witnessed a coach, player or spectator who has ever been able to get a referee to change a decision. Judgments, we shouldn’t even try. Interpretations, perhaps we can educate a younger referee if we do it in a polite “we’re-in-this-game-together” attitude.
But there are other areas in which coaches’ concerns about referees have some validity, and these concerns became the focus of a coach-referee seminar during the 2001 Virginia Youth Soccer Association’s Annual Workshop.
My role in the seminar was to be critical of referees from a coach’s perspective, with a senior referee taking a whack at coaches’ sideline behavior.
I thrived in the era of urban ethnic soccer in the 1940s and 1950s. Our referees had all played the game, knew us personally and understood our styles of play, our moods, our complaints. Basically, referees in those days let us play with minimum interference. Bob Denton, renowned Philadelphia referee of the era, once told me, “Lenny, I blow my whistle to start the game, then I put it in my pocket and watch a good game.” Okay, you don’t have to go that far, but you get the point.
Refs didn’t have cards to whip out at the slightest provocation. They simply “booked you,” jotting your name and number in a small pad. Two bookings, a rare occurrence, and you were gone, like a red card today but much more subtle and rarely used. Mostly, the refs of that day talked to the players, saying “Cool it, Lenny,” or “Calm down, Number 4.” Today, everyone seems surprised when Paul Tamberino, three-time MLS Official of the Year, admits to constantly talking to the players.
Off the field, those referees were our friends. Hall of Fame referee Jim Walder lived in my Kensington neighborhood, shared magazines, inquired about my career and shared stories about the sport we loved. I could say the same for Harry Rogers, “Offside” Smitty, Billy Rose, Ray Rosner and Granny Kraft — all giants of the era.
Today, coaches and referees rarely socialize. Despite pre-game pleasantries, calling referees “sir” and agreeing to a widely-publicized Codes of Ethics (available on the NSCAA web site), the level of coaches’ sideline discontent often borders on the antagonistic and the obscene. Referees, on the other hand, knowing they are the ultimate authority, seldom are seen screaming at coaches. They don’t have to. They have all the cards. Often seething within, referees know that all it takes is a short walk to the sideline to confront a coach and that’s the end of the irritant for that game.
We’re all part of this great game, we’re all necessary and few coaches or referees would consciously act in a manner that brings the game into disrepute. When coaches or players (and at rare times referees) do behave in an obnoxious manner, however, we all suffer — the game suffers. So, speaking as a longtime player and youth coach, here are my concerns about our referees. Perhaps by addressing these concerns, referees also can improve their game performances.
• Referees who try to be coaches. I warm up my players, the referee or assistant referee checks cleats and jewelry and has the players pound on their pads. The ref then proceeds to lecture my players for 10 minutes on direct and indirect free kicks, offside, tackles from behind and direct foot passes to the goalie — all part of the coach’s responsibility. Mr. Referee, you have your role to start and officiate the game. I have mine to prepare and coach my team. Teaching the laws and referee signals to my players is my responsibility, yours is simply to officiate the match. If a player doesn’t understand a law, that is the coach’s problem. So end the pre-game lectures. Don’t let a warmed-up team stand for five to 10 minutes to hear your pre-game erudition.
• Referees who do not know the laws or the spirit of the laws. When a referee allows a goal after a penalty kick comes off the post and is again played by the kicker, randomly gives cards to control the game, punishes a clean slide tackle for “playing the ball off the ground,” calls a player for a “high kick” or refuses to see the advantage, that referee has made a mockery of the Laws of the Game by his ignorance. That’s why we test and certify referees annually — to be certain they know the Laws and the subtle and not-so-subtle interpretations. Admittedly, FIFA has “cleaned up” the Laws, but every referee should be familiar with the annual Memorandums and Advice to Referees distributed by the U.S. Soccer Federation (www.ussoccer.com/referees/advice).
• Referees who are overly technical. Inexperienced referees, referees who have never played, referees with high ego needs and, at times, more crotchety older referees tend to blow for trifling fouls when they should just let play go on. I have had players called for “excessive use of elbows” when the player was simply moving his arms; goalies called for a hand ball when their momentum on a punt carried them out of the box; foul throws for a foot one inch off the ground and offside when there was no obvious attempt to interfere with play, gain an advantage or be in the active area. Referees in my era would have been laughed out of the stadiums with these calls.
• Referees who do not allow me to coach. In the final minutes of a close game, if I want to substitute for a player who happens to be on the other side of the field or if I call for a right back to take a corner kick on the left side, the referee has to allow it. Sure, add on time if you think one of my players or I am delaying the game, even give him a caution, but you must let me coach. Exercise your judgment in the context of the game’s flow. After all, you control the time.
• Referees who fail to spot a dive. Referees can give a yellow card to any player who engages in “simulated actions to deceive the referee” — in other words, taking a dive. Diving and feigning injury, at all levels of play, is endemic and threatens to make a mockery of our sport. What is a dive? It’s cheating. I can’t beat you with finesse or speed, so I go down at the slightest touch. And it works more often than not to draw a foul, a penalty kick and/or a card for the opponent. It’s almost an art form, sometimes referred to as “gamesmanship” in some international leagues. We all know it takes an awful hard knock to get a soccer player off his feet. Good coaches don’t teach their players to dive, good refs ignore it or give a card to the diver for deceptive behavior. FIFA called for a crackdown on obvious dives in the 2002 World Cup.
• Referees afraid of affecting the outcome of a game. A referee who fails to blow a whistle for an obvious penalty kick late in a tight game or refuses to expel a defender for a dangerous tackle from behind because he or she didn’t want to affect the game’s outcome has done exactly that. Call them as you see them, use your best judgment, and let the chips fall where they may. Coaches will understand.
• Referees who talk too little, referees who talk too much. Referees can build players’ trust by talking to them during the play. Not idle chit-chat or praise for a play, but advising them when they are about to cross the line and break a law. Sure, referees can talk too much, such as a constant “play on” or a running commentary on the game that distracts a player’s focus and makes the referee the center of attention, an “actor” instead of an “arbiter.” But referees who are hesitant to talk at all during play risk being seen by players as detached from the run of play.
• Referees who use excessive cards to control player behavior. I heard one FIFA referee instructor tell a class to “give a card early and that gets their attention.” What it does is change the game for that player and his team. We did fine when there were no cards. Our game was hard-nosed, in-your-face-soccer, yet few players were ever thrown out. When a modern referee consistently reaches for his cards, in my mind, he has lost the trust of the players and possibly lost game control. There are specific situations for issuing a card (despite what we hear from the TV announcers) and they should not be used for game control.
• Referees who permit time-wasting behavior. Some referees allow goalkeepers whose teams are ahead late in a close game to engage in time-wasting on goal kicks. Other examples are when a player begins to take a throw-in, then gives it to another player; players debating who will take a free kick; players feigning injury; and allowing coaches to sub late in the game for the farthest player on the field. All this occurs without adding time as called for in the Laws of the Game or giving a yellow card where appropriate. Players will seek every tactical advantage, but knowing a referee will add time can help eliminate this behavior.
• Referees, not the attackers, insisting on 10 yards for a free kick. Referees don’t call for opponents to retreat 10 yards on free kicks. Attacking players call it: “10 yards, ref!” Referees who make this call take away our coaching tactic for the quick restart when they jump right in and insist on players retreating 10 yards. If opponents don’t retreat and interfere with the restart, card them. But don’t impose yourself into our tactics.
• Referees who are not physically fit. Referees unable to cover the entire field, keep up with play or go the full 90 minutes without loss of concentration are a nemesis to the game. If you are not fit enough to keep up with an end-to-end, fast-paced soccer match with rapid and constant transitions, you shouldn’t be in the game. You must be in position to make the close calls in the corners, on the sidelines or, for assistant referees, remain with the second-to-last defender to judge offside. Players are expected to run for the entire match, sprinting all the time. So should you as a referee. Being out of shape does a disservice to the referees’ profession and to the game and can result in loss of control.
• Referees should look like professionals. We ask players to tuck in their shirts and pull up their socks, but a young referee can go out there with no socks, shirt out, wearing an outdated certification patch and baggy sweat pants and we accept them as part of the game. If you recertified, Mr. Ref, wear the current patch. Wear the correct uniform (yellow or black striped shirt, black shorts, black socks with the white stripes), don’t clash with the players’ colors and always have your watch, flags, a good whistle and cards as part of your attire.
• Referees should be consistent. Players have their distinct styles; so should referees. We’re all individuals. But players have a right to know what to expect from a referee. They play differently and adjust for different styles of officiating. I know referees who start out strong with early and powerful whistles “to make a statement” or “to get the players’ attention,” then taper off. Others take it more slowly and then start whistling later in the game. Be consistent in your calls for both teams.
• Remind yourself of Law 5, IBD 8. IBD 8 is no longer in the official FIFA Laws of the Game; nevertheless, it remains part of the spirit of the game in the U.S. Soccer Federation’s “Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game” (5.5):
“The Laws of the Game are intended to provide that games should be played with as little interference as possible, and ... it is the duty of the referee to penalize only deliberate breaches of the Law. Constant whistling for trifling and doubtful breaches produces bad feeling and loss of temper on the part of the players and spoils the pleasure of spectators.”
By taking this decision to heart, referees will enable players to enjoy being able to play and demonstrate skills while getting coaches off their backs and doing the game a true
service.
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the March 2003 issue of Soccer Journal. Len Oliver is Director of Coaching of the D.C. Stoddert Soccer League and a member of the Virginia Youth Soccer Association State Coaching Staff. He holds a USSF ‘A’ License and is a FIFA certified referee. His honors include induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame (1996) and the Virginia-D.C. Soccer Hall of Fame (2001), and he received the NSCAA’s Youth Long-Term Youth Service Award (2001).
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