by Complaints about referees are a global element of the game that at times is rooted in a misunderstanding of the nuances of the laws of the game, while at others may be a fifty-fifty decision. However, sometimes there is no excuse as was the case in today’s match between Lija-Sliema & Swieqi United in the BNF Women’s National League. The baseline must be set at a better level.
Licence To Officiate
Complaints about officiation are usually challenged by claims of fifty-fifty tussles and the fact that most of the time those on either side of the pitch and supporting from the stands are biased in their claims. At times complaints are lodged (or spat from the supporter stands) which demonstrate a lack of understanding of the nuances of refereeing.
However, sometimes there is no excuse and this was the case in this morning’s BNF Women’s National League (U16) match between Lija-Sliema and Swieqi United in the BNF Women’s National League. As the footage below shows, throw-ins went by without this person raising a flag, and there is clearly no understanding of the duties related to watching for offside.
The aim here is not to attack the individual. It is difficult to believe that this assistant referee had any sort of credible training before taking to the pitch. While it is easy to point fingers at a person clearly not at the level to be officiating a match, the better thing would be to question the person who conceived the idea of putting her there in the first place. On the other hand, one commends the extra effort that the referee had to make, clearly trying to cover for the shortcomings of his assistant in the situation.
The challenges of finding people willing to take on the duties of officiation are well understood. However, putting people into the field with such a poor level is disrespectful to not only to the players and those on the sidelines, but ultimately to the officials who put their best foot forward to do their job. It is like letting someone drive before they earn a driving licence. The biggest problem is that they are a hazard to the rest of society.
While today’s events displayed undoubtedly one of the highest level of incompetences, there has been weeks and weeks of clearly green officials being assigned to officiate matches across different leagues. With unfortunately sexist remarks certainly still in the vocabulary of a few, it is good to note that male officials have been observed taking to the pitches with no clear understanding of the offside rule and awarding throw-ins according to the whims of players. There is no point even trying to debate fouls.
Without wanting to exaggerate, if each observation were to be written in all the match reports uploaded on this website, perhaps there would not be too much space to report about the football at all. The fact that this is a U16 match is even more worrying, considering that these players are at the stage where they need to learn basics right, including respecting officials. Such instances are not conducive to this.
On the other hand, there is a level of patience needed with new referees and that is well understood. However, it is time that their training starts to be taken seriously and that a better baseline is set before these officials take to the pitch. Such poor occurrences are a detriment to the game and will do more harm than good as undoubtedly this morning’s incident has done.
It is understood that relevant association officials present took the action to replace the person from being part of the officiation team for the following match between Hibernians and Birkirkara, which is commended. However, the fact remains that this person should have never set foot in the pitch and therein lies the real issue.
The Whistle Is In Your Hands
On the other side of things are those watching the match. Such situations are understandably infuriating. However, it is important to keep in mind that the duty of those interested in the game goes beyond the comfort of sitting on the sidelines complaining about things.
It is clear that there are plenty who are keen to instruct the officials (to put it mildly) about what they should be doing during matches and in such instances as today it is more understood. However, as noted above, there is a real problem with a lack of people actively involved in officiation. Perhaps it is time to take the plunge and actually put that knowledge into practice by putting themselves forward for the job. The game would clearly be better for it.
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