Rising Aggressive Behaviour Towards Referees
"NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk exhibits his reaction upon receiving a red card from official John Brooks amidst the Premier League face-off between Newcastle United and Liverpool FC at St. James Park.
The Changing Dynamics: From Mild Confrontations to Heated Outbursts
It’s not a secret that referees have come under more and more scrutiny in the recent past. That in turn has led to players confronting them during the matches. Not that it wasn’t a case in the past but at most players would surround the referee, make a point, and then move away.
To tackle that issue, referees started dishing out yellows for unnecessary hounding of them. It did work for some time. But the heat of the moment is a completely different thing.
The “Heat of the Moment” Incidents: Case of Virgil Van Dijk
Just look at the sending-off of Virgil Van Dijk against Newcastle recently. Every sending or at least the majority of them are debatable decision and so was this one.
John Brooks, the ref for that game deemed Van Dijk the last man as he won the ball but went through Alexander Isak while challenging. Brooks sent him off and Van Dijk was visibly frustrated at the decision and lashed out at the fourth official near the tunnel. These things are unwarranted but in the heat of the moment, you always do something that you later regret.
After the Whistle: Off the Pitch Misconduct
In a Europa League final fraught with tension, Roma manager Jose Mourinho has been charged by UEFA for verbally abusing Premier League referee Anthony Taylor. This abuse occurred both during and after Roma’s loss to Sevilla in Budapest. Mourinho further berated the officials in a post-game press conference and in the stadium car park, labeling their officiating as biased and disgraceful.
Footage on social media also revealed Taylor and his family being harassed by Roma fans at Budapest Airport, with criminal proceedings now underway against an individual involved in the incident. Both Roma and Sevilla have also received additional charges from UEFA for crowd disturbances and other misconduct.
Roma’s general manager defended Mourinho’s critique of Taylor, calling the match’s officiating unbalanced. Despite the controversies, Mourinho’s actions have raised eyebrows within the sports community, particularly given his storied history of confrontations with referees.
Managers Joining the Fray: Klopp, Guardiola, and Others
Klopp and Guardiola have been guilty of disrespecting the fourth official in the past. It’s not just the two of them though, both are very passionate managers and they keep butting heads with the official almost every game.
There are other managers in the Premier League as well as the EFL who continuously get into the faces of either the linesman or the fourth official. I mean, Neil Warnock and Harry Redknapp made a career out of those things.
What about Sir Alex Ferguson? The conspiracy theory about him pressuring the officials to give decisions in United’s favor at their peak and officials admitting to giving away decisions in favor of United because they were scared of Ferguson’s hairdryer treatment.
Referees have always been put under immense pressure every game and it has been happening for a very long time. They are human and are bound to make a mistake periodically, but hopefully infrequently. They do not get a substitute who’ll come in for them and run the whole 90 minutes. As Alexander Pope famously wrote, “To Err is Human.” Officials put in considerable efforts every game so they do deserve respect every time they step onto the pitch.
Referees Under the Microscope: The Role of Social Media
Fanbases are also part of the problem. Social media has played a big part in exposing the vulnerability of the officials. We already discussed that referees and linesmen are bound to get a decision wrong here and there, fanbases will hang onto that mistake and run with it.
It will be all over social media about how certain referees treat their teams unfairly in every game they officiate but that is not the case. You can do 99 things right but people will always remember the one thing that you do wrong and that is exactly what happens with the officials.
The officials are all over the social media if they get one call wrong and agendas are run by fans of clubs to pressure them even more. Officials definitely need to be protected even more.
The Balance of Responsibility: Referees, VAR, and Fans
Now then, it is not to say that the players and fans are wrong 100% of the time. Just this season the amount of times VAR has gotten decisions wrong is unbelievable and we are only five games into the season.
According to the reports VAR has already got 6 decisions wrong this season. Marti Ellie’s opener against Manchester United, the handball decision against Spurs not given to United, MacAllister’s red card against Aston Villa, and more.
The fans are frustrated that despite having technology to assist the officials they’re still making glaring mistakes. The mistakes aren’t small ones either. It costs points to respective teams and in the end that might affect the final positions of the teams.
Teams could lose money or even face relegation due to obvious errors. Just look at Sheffield United and Aston Villa in 2020. Sheffield United was denied a clear goal from a corner because the goal-line technology didn’t work at Villa Park and Aston Villa survived the drop to the Championship at the expense of Sheffield United because of the result from that game.
You can’t clap with one hand. There are issues from both sides that need to be dealt with. Officials also need to take more responsibility and make correct decisions considering now they have technology to assist them so the margin for error has reduced even further. Players are charged with misconduct and are levied heavy fines for facing off with the officials yet officials get away with errors time and again.
The Double Standards: A Case for Consistency
Liverpool’s Robertson got elbowed by Constantine Hatzidakis, the linesman from Liverpool’s game against Arsenal last year. Yet he was neither reprimanded nor suspended for his actions but if the shoe was on the other foot then Robertson would’ve been banned for at least 5 games. The consistency isn’t there.
In the end, Referees need to be more consistent as well as use the technology to make fewer mistakes that draw the ire of fans and clubs. But, they also need protection from the overly aggressive behavior of the fans, players, and managers. FA needs to do more to find a balance because if they do not, one of the two sides might end up being overpowered by the other.
