Let The Referees Breathe
"The same referee, similar scenario: two different outcomes! Is he high on something?" - Anonymous
If you are conversant with one or two things about the happenings in my country right now, then my topic of choice should be relatable. When the pressure gets too much to handle, with the situation getting so boiling up it's about to spill over, a little breathing space can do wonders.
Well, enough of the unnecessary explanations. I'm not here to fidget.
So, Arteta finally ended his winless run against his former boss. Interesting, right? But then, the outcome of that match is not a topic of interest here. The question is: why did Michael Oliver shy away from sending off Mateo Kovacic, who is already on a yellow, after he committed a glaringly bookable offence?
I was on X, formerly known as Twitter, just now and I saw guys berating Oliver. Some even went as far as bringing up the referee's past performance at the Molineux Stadium where he twice booked Gabriel Martinelli and sent him off for committing two bookable offences in the same passage of play. Why are we having so many inconsistencies?
I remembered how opposing supporters, players, and, even, managers targeted Howard Webb during the Ferguson era. A player - I guess Ryan Babel - even went as far as creating a picture of Webb in a Manchester United jersey. Anyway, Webb is off active field duty, Ferguson retired over a decade ago, VAR was introduced as the Messiah of football that can do no wrong. Yet, we are still here arguing, complaining and contesting every referee decision with a tinge of bitterness and conspiracy like the days of old.
When are we going to accept the fact that these referees - though they are supposed to be the best of the best - are humans who are liable to and will sometimes make mistakes?
When Fergie was around, referees made countless mistakes that favoured other teams. Every match played back then always had contentious decisions made, especially when it comes to the incredibly difficult offside calls. Trophies were won because the assistant referee couldn't get his line right. Were those matches replayed when it was later found the officials made mistakes? No. We all wailed and complained and then we moved on; the winner retains his trophy no matter what.
This year, new laws were created to protect EPL referees from the incessant bickering and rude remarks made by players and managers alike. Despite that, the scrutiny only intensified. In fact, I've never heard of a high profile match where a manager wanted it replayed because of a marginal offside call that went wrong. Negligence of duty? Yes, it happens at the top end of every enterprise, it's not new. Now some people are already claiming Oliver overlooked Kovacic's booking because he already got paid by the Saudi dudes who own Man City simply because he's been working a shift at the Saudi League recently. Seriously?
I've been to live matches, I've heard supporters directly threaten a referee's family; I've seen referees beaten to a pulp because the home team lost. Do we have to wait till a high profile referee takes his life before we realize the damage we are doing?
It's so funny that some scallywags who can't even keep a job because they are ineffectual find it so easy to come online and berate someone who's trying to do his job. Footballers have been praised and supported for coming out about their mental health struggles due to the scrutiny of professional football. But, who is checking on the mental health of these referees that barely escapes one week without being barked at, berated and threatened by both sets of fans in the stadium?
The best strikers miss open goals, top goalkeepers commit blunders, even the best managers make tactical errors. Yet, the referee becomes the public enemy every single match for the slightest of mistakes.
Look, referees are not robots; they are human beings liable to mistakes. Let them breathe!
