CRITICIZING FOOTBALL REFEREES

In the world of football, refereeing is one of the key components of a successful and entertaining game. Fans and stakeholders at times put aside the role played by matches officials and throw words to them in the case of poor officiating.

There have been negative criticisms of referees in Kenya as some come under hot fixtures like Gor Mahia and AFC Leorpards.The game between the two the clubs is considered to be a derby as the Kenyan clubs comes from the western side and tend to have many fans as compared to other Kenyan premier League clubs.

Match officials who officiates the matches between K’ogalo and Ingwe as the clubs call themselves respectively need to be careful when pointing out offences on the pitch because of the tension that exists between the players and fans.

In the 2011 Football Kenya Limited semi-final match between the derby, referee David Oweno had to end the game prematurely after few Ingwe fans were spotted throwing stones to the line man claiming that the assistant referee was not fair to their side.

In England, the famous premier league officially sponsored by the Barclays bank hence the name Barclay’s premier league, only English referees are allowed to officiate matches. These officials don’t escape criticisms though their passage of the 11 distinct levels of training starting from the lowest level of non-active referees to the international level.

In the list of those officials who are highly criticized tops Howard Melton Webb who many finds to be a Manchester United fan because of his favors to the Old Trafford side when they find it difficult to go past strong teams in the League.

Webb, the former police sergeant whom I expect to be a straight person seems to be unfair decision maker in the field. He has been in the media for along time since he started his career as a referee because of his frequent mistakes and makes some games boring as he is always gives favors to one side.

Recently, the referee was the recipient of criticism from Chelsea Manger Andre Villa-Boas on the 5th Feb 2012 Stamford Bridge game, when the Blues led Manchester united 3-0 but two penalties given by Webb and a third headed goal saw united survive a humiliative defeat at the Bridge.

Also when was officiating King Kenny Daglish’s first game as a Liverpool manager in January 2011,Webb awarded united  a first-minute penalty claiming Daniel Agger had fouled Dimitar Berbatov who dived into the penalty area as the ‘weak strikers’ always do.

Martin Atkinson, on the other hand is also criticized for his poor decision making on the pitch and this can manifest in March 2011 following is 80^th minute penalty award to Chelsea to secure a 2-1 win and he was censured by Manchester united manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the manager felt that the referee should have issued a second yellow card to the Blues best overlapping Brazilian defender David Luiz.

Atkinson on the 1 October 2011 came under fire for sending off Everton midfielder Jack Rodwel in the 23^rd minute at Goodison Park when Everton lose to Liverpool by two goals to nil. In the game, the official gave a straight red card claiming that Liverpool’s Luis Suarez was fouled but the replays suggested that Rodwell tackled Suarez safely.

Many fans now believe that Howard Webb gives favors to Manchester united as well as Martin Atkinson to Chelsea. Images on the internet portray the two officials wearing jerseys of the clubs of which they are claimed to give credit.

Liverpool’s Ryan Babel was charged by England’s Football Association with improper conduct when he twitted Howard Webb wearing a Man united Jersey.

This creates tension among clubs between the players and also fans resulting to bitter rivalries which in the long run cause chaos in the field making an interesting match to lose taste.

In order, a game to be interesting and balanced, referees together with the lines men who are their assistants should be fair when pointing out mistakes and offences committed on the pitch. Fair play is the only way a strong and winning team is determined but don’t forget that human is to error but should not be the reason why these officials always do these weak mistakes.

By Fred Momanyi.