Are referees getting unfairly treated? Are some supporters complaints fair or just fuelled by ignorance?

Professional football games have many common occurrences. 22 players, a football and goals are essential, but also as important are match officials. Referees, linesmen, fourth officials and VAR officials have their own specific jobs that they must do to the best of their ability.

However, the amount of criticism that these officials get from fans can on occasions can become over the top. Whether it’s a fan blaming a referee for making their team lose, or people complaining about a VAR decision which is almost certain, people will sometimes do anything to shift the blame from the players and manager.

Speaking to the Sussex RA’s Secretary Phil Wilks, he said “I think there is definitely a case that they are unfairly treated but you have got to put it into perspective. You are looking at it from a neutral perspective, and then you have got eleven players that are challenging decisions on each side and even in quite a docile game you are going to get players that are challenging a decision because they want it one way and the other team want it another, so you are never going to please everyone on the pitch.”

Image Courtesy of: Phil Wilks

Of course, when officials are making lots of bad decisions in one game, fans and social media will not let you forget it. People only know Norwegian referee Tom Henning Øvrebø due to his refereeing performance in a match involving Chelsea and Barcelona. This match involved at least 4 possible missed penalty shouts for Chelsea, including two missed handballs from Gerard Pique and Samuel Eto’o, which was compounded by a late Andrés Iniesta equaliser either side of these decisions which knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League.

The Video Assistant Referee, or VAR for short, was introduced with the view to reduce errors and allows them a second chance to look at a contentious moment and change their mind. However, there is a fair amount of criticism that it is taking too long and there is little to no transparency on what they are checking.

“I think that comes down to communication in the stadium to say why it’s taking so long or why something has happened, so you could say someone was offside but you might not understand who was offside” said Wilks: “It might have been a player who was interfering with the goalkeeper that wasn’t the goal scorer, and they [fans/supporters] can all see from their screens or their phone that the goal was offside but they don’t understand who was given offside and why.”

Wilks in his Coaching Role. Courtesy of: Phil Wilks

Social media is the main way fans vent their frustration over offsides and saying their own interpretations of certain parts of the FA rulebook. “They are just trying to put into their own perspective, and if you think about it, how many players and fans understand what the laws of the games are anyway?” Wilks said, “So how many players and fans have actually taken their time to understand the laws of the game. You are coming from a position of knowledge, and they are coming from a position of ignorance”.

When it comes to refereeing, there is significant pressure piled upon them, but as Phil points out, most of these criticisms come from fans who are biased or ignorant. Sometimes you’re better just to take some criticism on decisions with a pinch of salt.