Best of 2004: How to Complain About Referees
Yes, the point of the site is primarily for me to vent, and secondarily for people to learn what goes through the head of a referee - but yes, referees can and do sympathize with players' concerns. Most of us do or have played - maybe not at the same level we ref, but I think the concern with reffing the lower levels are much the same as the uppers; the differences are the skill levels involved.And yes, there are times when you should complain about the officials for your game - I've done it (on one occasion, which I describe below); and I take the game and my job in it seriously enough to know that there is a time-and-place to do so. I wrote this piece because I want more great referees on the field, but to do that means knowing how things are done with referees, and how to let the authorities know that a referee isn't ready for that particular level (not to throw them off the pitch completely - do you want to increase the ref shortage?). It's important to know when, why, how, and if it your complaints will be taken seriously. One hint: "Worst referee ever" won't be taken seriously.
So, the final entry for my Best of 2004 list, was also published pretty darn early in 2004, January 12th, to be exact. Here's How to Complain About Referees, also known as The Small Guide to Effectively Complain About Referees :
In many ways, I feel sorry
for the soccer coordinator for the league/company I'm working with
right now. I mean, I get crap every night - not necessarily every game
- some teams actually know how to ask about something to me without
foaming at the mouth or otherwise invoke what would cause any normal
human (let alone a referee) a sudden thickening of the skin and
deafening of the ears. This guys gets the real loonies and the real
whiners who just don't know when to quit. I mean, let's look at last week's game
where I had to make a judgment call that probably could have gone
either way. Their argument to the coordinator can only be boiled down
to, "The call didn't go the way I wanted. Waaaaaaaaaah!!". OK, so the
insipid whimpering was strictly unnecessary, but I think it adequately
boils down their emotional state.You can complain about referees, I don't mean just grumbling, but actually complain to the authorities (be it the managers/owners in the case of unaffiliated leagues; assignors, referee organizations, tournament authorities and above for the case of games where the refs wear badges (BTW - if it's an unaffiliated game, the refs should not be wearing a USSF, NISOA, or other badge, unless it's generic). The trick is to know what to complain about, and how to do it. So, for those of you who want to do this (and I imagine it's a lot), I present my Small Guide to Effectively Complain About Referees :
First and Most Important Rule:
Complaining Directly to the Referee Does Squat
I'm going to phrase this more in line of what you can do, versus what you can't. Now I don't mean that you can't talk to the ref, or make exclamations. Remember that referees have to make decisions about the game every second, some of them huge, some of them involve trying to read your mind: "Do they really want me to call this foul, or is the the type of game they want to play with?" Remember that soccer, unlike most other US sports, is called according to the type of game being played (that's reality, folks - if you don't like it, talk to the USSF and/or FIFA, because that's how they teach it), so what is a foul for one game is just ordinary contact for the next. The Advantage call used to be an all-or-nothing deal - if you called Advantage, you could not revisit it come hell or high water. When FIFA allowed referees to revisit their Advantage call, it gave us a huge tool to correct errors, and allow players to let us know what is and is not acceptable. Here's an example: a few weeks ago I let a challenge go by because I knew the teams involved and thought it was an acceptable level of play - I was wrong. After the challenge, I immediately heard, "Ref, he can't do that!" I blew the whistle, "The gentleman is correct, that is a foul" and set up for the free kick at the point of the challenge; and more importantly adjusted my game according to what the players expected.
So that's what you can do - alert the referee(s) to what you think is appropriate. The problems are twofold however: first are people wanting every contact to be a foul; all I can suggest is that if the ref isn't buying it, then get over it and play. The second problem is when the language turns toward how the ref is doing. Even the best refs have heard this all before, and one thing we've learned is, "Most players are full of crap." Not because they are full of crap, but because they're not neutral. In the example above, if I didn't feel it was a foul, I should, in theory, be able to safely ignore the comment from the player and keep going. Coming back and arguing a second time, just will not work. Sorry gang, it's true - the total results you'll get are bupkiss; in fact, you may piss off the referee. The moral here is don't expend your capital with the ref unwisely; if you garner the impression that you're a thoughtful and respectful person, you'll get a lot farther if you do get pissed off, than if you spew venom around willy-nilly. To be brutally honest, we will not listen to you during the game, and afterwards we'll just make fun of you behind your back.
Lesson Two: Who can complain?
Basically put, do you have "standing", or are you involved in any official capacity with the teams, players or league? If you don't, you letter goes to the Round File; probably after being read, passed around, and giggled at. And no, being a parent or fan (even if you're a "certified referee" - gag puke) does not count as standing within a league. Go vent on Big Soccer or something and don't waste our time.
Typically people that leagues will listen to are: coaches, players, league administrators, official assessors, assignors, and other officials from the game.
Lesson Three: The Two Things You Can Complain About
Just about every league and tournament everywhere have some sort of clause like this: "The referee is the sole judge and authority regarding the facts of play." The means, if the referee sees a foul, blows the whistle for a foul, and restarts with a free kick - it is a foul. Same is true if the referee determines that something was not a foul. And your recourse for this? Absolutely nothing. Let's face it, if a coach or player was to appeal a game every time there was a controversial call, you might as well quit the game and just play "lawyers" - because that's where the game would head. As a referee, I see on quite a regular basis where I call a foul (or non foul), and one person is pissed, and another is supportive of me; at that point in time, I usually have to calm down the pissed person, and get the other person to stop defending him/herself (because it only makes the situation worse), by saying, "If everyone agrees with every call, you wouldn't need me here." And that's most league's approaches, too. Referees are assigned according to their skill level (or to see if they can handle the higher skill level - but usually then they're being observed).
So what can you complain about?
1. Technical violations of the Law. Did the referee call back a goal after restarting the game? Did he award someone three yellow cards? Did he do an incorrect restart? Was there a conflict-of-interest? These protests are based on the referee making mistakes against the Laws of the Game, not on judgment calls (in other words, saying "He wasn't calling the game fairly" is not an acceptable technical violation). If you want to see a great list of actual protests and results, check out this site.
2. Saftey. I've filed one complaint about a referee (you can read the letter here), and I made great pains to not mention his calls, or his technique (which, even before I started reffing, I knew was poor), but that I felt unsafe with him in charge. That, my friends, is a damning charge; while injuries happen, our job as referees are to make sure the game is as safe as possible, and to most league administrators, that's far more important than if he made the calls correctly.
Lesson Four: How do to do it
This will vary by league. Most formal leagues (USSF, NFHS, etc.) have an actual grievance procedure (look at the link in the Technical Violations section for an example) that you can go through; unaffiliated leagues (like the one I wrote to above), may have nothing set up at all - in my case I decided that an email to a person I knew at the league (and a follow-up letter) would be sufficient. How it's done will vary.
But here's the trick: Do not say the ref sucks. You can imply a pattern of incompetence (or in my case, state it outright), but leave it up to the person you're writing to do to make the determination. Put in as much detail as possible - why you're writing (in my case, it was because the two games we had with that guy had degenerated into fisticuffs); and most importantly, say good things about the organization and the other referees. Now I don't mean lie, because frankly, you'll get called on it, and might even end up facing sanctions yourself (not to mention, if you can't find anything good to say about a league, don't play in it). But do say why you play in that league - you have a choice, and the people in charge need to be able to compare the services given with either others in their organization, or another organization entirely.
Lesson Five: Avoid the Atom Bomb
The higher up the ladder you take a complain, the more formal the proceedings. If you just don't think the referee is up to the level of games he's doing, find out the ref's assignor and write to him or her. Most assignors care a great deal about how their refs are perceived (because it reflects upon them - and they do get paid to assign), and will look at the ref to see if action is required. Maybe the ref was just overwhelmed and needs some mentoring, or a lower level of play. Maybe there was some extraneous circumstances that you could be told of "unofficially" (like he was a last-minute sub after the original ref got sick). Going this low-key, informal route may end up garnering better results faster, without adding to the referee shortage (remember that we can train, but cannot practice).
Lession Six: What to Expect
The simple answer is, don't expect much - don't even expect a follow-up letter or phone call. Remember that while people can complain about referees openly, referees cannot do the same; that means much of what happens with the referee is behind closed doors. In the case of a formal USSF complaint that has merit, an assessor will come out to a future game with that referee to work with him or her; other possibilities are the referee's association working with that referee, to the assignor putting that ref on lighter duty. Even if the ref is banned; don't expect to ever hear about it (I never did with my complaint, I just never saw him work adult games again). If you think that's unfair, all I can suggest is you yourself become a referee, and you will understand - quickly - a public acknowledgment of a mistake, even one every referee makes, is a career-ender. It's a different world with the whistle.
Check out the original article for the comments
Im sorry but there was Paul scholes fouling Torres and Torres gets booked? Does not make sense? Mascerano sticks up for his team mate (which did get out of hand) and gets sent off! He (Bennett) is a disgrace! Another thing they (the refs) are demanding respect.. All these rules saying that they dont want all the team members coming up around them and it should be the captains and then he wouldnt even speak to gerrard.. RESPECT IS A 2 WAY THING OR DID THEY NOT TEACH YOU ANYTHING IN SCHOOL? And both Carrick and Rooney get two players from behind (Torres and Gerrard) and they got absolutely nothing!! (Suprise there!!!)Its a disgrace he should get his licence removed. he has lost any sort of respect I had for him.. The only good thing is their 3rd goal. that was class (and i hate to saying this!)
laura () - 23 March '08 - 10:57
Nice random comment there. Let’s complain about a game that isn’t mentioned on this blog, on a post that’s three years old.Premiereship aside, at least on this side of the pond, a team captains rights are for the coin toss, period. Yes, there are some traditions about captains, but there are no rights. The more I’ve done the game, the more I disregard the armband when I look for the team leader.
The rest is all referencing a game that you don’t cite. I’d considering deleting the comment, except it’s just too damn amusing.
TheRef - 23 March '08 - 19:27
Hi there, I’m wondering if you can help me? Do you know where I might be able to direct complaints about a referee in the Premier League? Any help would be wonderful, regards.Rob.
Rob - 03 December '08 - 07:09
I had an incident where a ref made a comment to other parents in the stand that my daughter was faking a foul because she was embarrased about missing the shot. She has a mark the size of a half dollar on her head. I told him and other refs after the game the comments into the stand were not appropriate but I was deemed irrational. How should I proceed?KM - 20 December '08 - 20:42
I think your best option is to alert the assignor for the game. Maybe that person has a history of bad judgement, or perhaps just needs to a refresher course in tact.The reason I say the later is because all of us have to make decisions on if a particular event is real or faked – and all of us have screwed it up. Messing up a call won’t get the guy sacked, or probably even reprimanded – but if he’s messing up in how he’s managing his decisions (and there are times when blatantly calling a player a cheater is appropriate, just not many of them) – then that might be looked into.
TheRef - 24 December '08 - 22:09