QUOTES ON THE TV REFEREE by Simon Lewis

HOW TO USE THE TV REFEREE?
“To refer a decision to a TV referee is awful – it’s slow and more embarrassing to the official as he is asking for assistance without having the chance to prove his ability to get the decision right. We should empower the referee (and cricket umpire) by not allowing them to refer any decision to a TV referee (or umpire). Let them prove their decision-making ability on the field. At the lower levels of refereeing or umpiring they have to make those calls, so now when you get into the televised arena suddenly you stop calling it as you see it but ask for help from your TV buddy every time there is a close call? The onfield umpire / referee should make the decisions, with the knowledge that if they get close calls wrong, the TV umpire/referee will be able to correct them, for the benefit of the game, the fans and the players. That sounds a lot less embarrassing for the referees.”

WHAT ABOUT MATCHES WHERE THERE IS POOR TV COVERAGE
“The four finals showed me that referees CAN be trusted – they do a good job. They can be trusted! It follows, then, that if there is no TV coverage or inferior standards of broadcasting, then at least we have already discovered that officials can be trusted as far as is humanly possible. Sure, the finals would have had the top-rated referees and linesmen officiating, but their performances do offer proof of their ability to get it right under pressure and heavy scrutiny. The only problem with referees is that the phrase ‘humanly possible’ becomes a grey area with penalty decisions and offsides (as well as certain goal decisions), simply because it is only with slow motion replays that you can get 100% accuracy with these decisions, and even then sometimes you need to watch 2-3 replays, as well as sometimes another angle or two. Sure, mistakes will happen in non-televised matches, but these would have happened anyway. TV referees can only improve soccer, they can’t lower standards in any way or harm the sport. Cricket uses TV replays for certain decisions, yet there are matches with no TV coverage. The important thing is to get the high-profile obvious decisions right, even if it means over-ruling an official. The end result is that the correct decision gets made – that has to be good as the public and players’ view of referees can only be improved if there are fewer controversial errors hitting the headlines.”

MANY PEOPLE ARE AGAINST THE USE OF THE TV REFEREE
“I appreciate the delicacy and care required by the people in charge of soccer – any such major change needs a good deal of talk and careful consideration. But it’s reached the stage where brain surgery is no longer required – soccer, one of the leading sports, actually needs to catch a wake-up, as almost all other sports are using video replays to aid referees and umpires. I appeal to FIFA to consider the facts of the four finals as shown here and make the best and most positive decision – bring the TV ref to life!”

THE PROBLEM WITH OFFSIDES
“Incorrect line calls halt play, breaking down legitimate attacking situations. This frustrates the fans and the players, especially as in around 40% of instances the attacker would have been on a virtual or actual one-on-one face-off with the keeper. These decisions are sometimes almost impossible to judge even with TV replays, so for a linesman it is unthinkable for them to always call these correctly. Linesmen in general do phenomenally well in their adjudications, but the impact of any wrong decision is so huge that prevention should be implemented. The solution is for the linesman to raise his flag when he believes the players are offside, while play carries on (thus not affecting the players or frustrating the fans). The TV ref can overrule or confirm the offides without play having been stopped. Rather have a goal overruled by the TV referee than have incorrect offsides being called.”

IN A TIGHT CORNER
“The goal-kick or corner kick decision is potentially a big decision to get wrong – a corner kick is an opportunity for the attacking side to drop the ball right in the goalmouth and look to score a goal. It’s a great attacking opportunity, and being denied it is potentially a huge disadvantage, especially for weaker teams who rely on dead-ball situations for a goal against the run of play. Refs and linesmen can’t always get these decisions right as it is humanly impossible to spot some tiny deflections. A TV replay usually confirms this before the players can take the goal kick or corner kick.”

THE BEST POSITION“TV commentators themselves sometimes can’t agree on decisions, and perhaps they aren’t well enough versed with the rules, but the point is that the referees and linesmen are best placed to judge decisions that are often open to interpretation and which require you to be placed in the thick of the action to best ascertain impact, cause, effect and intent. However, there are some decisions made by officials that a TV replay can quickly confirm or reject with absolute certainty. As these are often of major significance in the course of the match, TV replays should be incorporated into the referee and linesmen’s decision-making armoury for the start of the next European football season.”

© SIMON LEWIS The Ball magazine 
simon@theball.co.za • www.theball.co.za