All hail the almighty Referee!

Instead, I think it's time for FIFA to take away some responsibility from the referee. Being a referee in this day and age, is an extremely pressuring occupation and FIFA has not done anything to help the man in the middle do his job. Take for example, being the official time keeper. Why should the referee be in charge?

In other teams sports like rugby and field hockey, the time is kept separately from the match officials and when the buzzer sounds, the game ends. Plain and simple. For years we have had disputes over the time, whether it's too much injury time or too little, or when should the referee blow the whistle. For example, last week we say David Moyes lambasting referee Martin Atkinson for blowing the whistle when Everton was attacking and close to getting a winner during Everton's draw with Man United. This week, Phil Down refuse to blow the whistle even after the allocated injury time. Again, why do we let this happen?

Why must allow the game to be open to human errors and criticism when it could be easily rectified. FIFA would like the referees to be respected as the only say in the football rule book on the field but with every mistake the campaign is fast becoming a joke. Respect is earned not demanded and with referees like Phil Dowd around, its difficult to keep a straight face just mentioning the word.

Referees today are like court judges when they are out in the field. They are the kings of the domain and no one can question their decision. However, one big difference in the two occupations is unlike referees, judges have to give written summations on their verdicts, In football, referees go about their work without any repercussions or even need to explain wrong decisions. Unless, we see some changes, everybody, from the teams to the fans, will be poorer because of it.


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