Question Number: 20589

Law 5 - The Referee 11/25/2008

RE: Select Under 13

Reza Taheri of San Jose, Ca United States asks...

OK, first by way of disclosure: the incident in question below happened after I had gotten a well-deserved caution from the referee. We had had the same (bad) referee for 3 games in a tournament wknd. By the second half of the 3rd game, I lost it and loudly disputed a horrible call he had made. He cautioned me (and showed me a yellow card; right there: he doesn't know his rule book), after which I sat down and did not say peep for the rest of the game. I protested, got a deserved caution, and that was that. With less than a minute left, he called a foul against us at the halfway line. The ball rolled to our 18. I instructed our sweeper to set the line of defense 10 yards up from the 18. At that point, she went back to get the ball. I yelled for her to let the other team get their own ball. The ref heard that, came to the sideline, gave me a second caution, and ejected me (again, using yellow and red cards) for 'Unsporting conduct'. I did not tell my player to kick the ball away, etc. I just felt that she needed to mind her own responsibilities rather than feeling obligated to be the other team's ball fetcher. Was this unsporting conduct?

I am a licensed referee and also hold an NSCAA adv. nat. coaching diploma. I make mistakes as a ref, and know that there are abusive coaches out there, as well as good/bad refs, etc. I feel that in this case, a referee, who by the consensus of many coaches at the tournament was an incompetent referee, used his authority to ... well, really abused his authority. For example, I had to walk around the field to exit (the field is fenced in on 3 sides). This may have taken me 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. He made a point of extending the game by 5 minutes and 20 seconds, when the tournament rules stated that no time would be added to game due to injury, etc. He was going to punish me and my team any way he could where all I had done was loudly dispute one call (no abuse language or persistent dissent).

Sorry about the long rant! I don't like mouthy coaches myself when I ref, and dont like to be shown up when I make a mistake. But I feel that what this (incompetent) referee did was totally unfair to my team.

Thanks,
Reza

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Your diatribe against the referee doesn't make much sense, so it is hard to figure out if you even have a question for us to answer.

If you were the coach of this team, the rules of the tournament and/or the state youth association may provide referees with the tool of using cards against coaches who behave in an irresponsible manner. If that is the case, the cards are well within the powers of the referee to give. I don't see how that is a mistake by the referee. While it is frowned upon by USSF, it is a fact of life in the youth leagues. There are referees who refuse to do it and those who need it as a way to deal with coaches. So the dismissal of you, if you are the coach in the scenario above, sounds like it was within bounds - you admit as much yourself.

Why were you shouting from the bench anyway? It is up to the players on the field to figure out the best way to handle things - you as a coach and a referee should definitely know this! I'm sure your demeanor on the field clearly demonstrated to the referee what you thought of him and his abilities, especially at the end of three games, and you're surprised when he reacts? I don't know what the score of the game was at the time of your outburst, but I'm sure IF the referee added time, it was to compensate for the time out of the game it took to deal with you, and I doubt it had to do with punishing you, as much as I'm sure you would like to believe it. It is more likely the referee was trying to be fair to the teams for the time taken from playing, even if it meant stretching the tournament rules. I would remind you the referee is the time keeper. While your watch may say one thing, you were not the referee, and his watch controls.

Your rant is better directed to the referee assignor at the tournament, because she will be the only one who can visit with the referee in a calm and non-threatening manner to discover his side of this story. There was nothing in this post to indicate anything the referee did that was not within the responsibilities of a referee. I wish we could all be Brian Hall, but it took him a lot of work to get good just as it takes for all of us. We all can be better referees - and we learn better when people approach us appropriately. There's a few lessons in this situation for you - I hope you take them to heart, and remember them the next time you take the field with the whistle.

I would remind you that as a referee, you have an ethical obligation not to trash fellow referees - especially not from the touchlines. You should go through appropriate channels to see if re-education is needed, or if an assessment could benefit the referee. It wouldn't hurt you to get one, either.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I am assuming that you are the coach and not a player, is this correct? If so, then you are absolutely correct that no cards should have been shown you by this referee. FIFA and USSF forbid cards being shown to coaches. That said, your local League or the tournament officials may have allowed it. If the tournament rules stated no added time, then there should have been none added. There is no rule that requires the player from either team to retrieve a ball. It is customary that the team that will benefit from the restart retrieve the ball and the opposing team is perfectly within their right to not retrieve such a ball. However, it's also generally considered sporting to help out and get the game restarted. Did you telling your player not to retrieve the ball warrant you being expelled from the game? I don't know. Certainly not in an of itself but I have no idea what transpired previously to this event. I will say that there is no requirement the referee expel you just because he told you to be quiet twice. But, he's also within Law to tell you to leave at your first outburst so whether he was over reacting, under reacting, or acting properly, I don't know.
All this said, the proper place for you to have gone was the tournament director and you should have done so immediately if this referee added 5 plus minutes when the rules stipulated no added time. The referee is a field condition you simply have to adapt to .Even really bad referees are usually impartial and make bad calls both ways. Unless, of course, one of the coaches has gone out of his way to irritate or belittle the referee. Just some food for thought.Also, I chuckle to myself every time a coach who is also a referee tells me that he doesn't like abusive coaches. Then gets thrown out of a game by the referee. You, of all people, should know what it's like being out there in the center and should act responsibly no matter how much you may disagree with your fellow referee.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

My colleagues again reiterate a point we often state that the referee is a match condition and as such those playing must adapt to how he views the things that he has control over.

Whether that is fair is debatable, it is however a reality.

Perception or evaluation of performance may or may not be true, partly true or outright false? There is no 100% foolproof formulas for deciding in writing who is correct, more correct, or absolutely incorrect on subjective issues that deal with opinion.

As a coach you do the best for your kids and set a good example of responsible behaviour. The problems arise when an all too human coach cannot contain their outrage or anger at a referee or decision that they perceive, feel, know or think is unfair. They verbalize the emotion, translates into dissent or abuse in the ears of the referee and as the referee gets to decide on these matters as a coach you just force fed the referee some ammunition.

As much as I might disagree with the showing of cards to coaches and the fact that time added is permitted per FIFA law but not in this league. If a referee accepts the conditions of employment then he must oblige the conditions of the competition

Yes an intelligent compassionate thinking referee will be able to quantify and place a rant or outburst into proper perspective as to its effect on the match and the need to react in a specific manner.
I can only suggest that you record and submit what you witnessed as a truthful statement of the facts not an emotional rant that is likely biased or sure to be seen as such.
Such things as retrieving the ball is an act of sportsmanship in a match with little to gain by not doing, so your outburst as rational as you think it to be makes little sense except to show a petty side of your character. Teach the kids that if they retrieve the ball they do it in a manner that benefits their team by slightly slowing things down slightly or toss the ball up very high and again slow the restart down in a way unlikely to draw attention as your scream of recrimination did!

When you publicly dissent or call attention to yourself and force the referee to at least consider doing something about it as Forrest Gump says decisions are, 'Like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get.'
cheers

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