"Law 18" Strikes Again

Time To Gift Them Common Sense As The ‘Football Laws’ Continue To Fail Them

Referees, you either loathe or hate them. Their very presence on the football pitch fills you with rage, safe in the knowledge that they’re just moments away from a complete lapse in judgement or inexplicably getting in the way of a sweeping counter-attack.

I will confess to having launched a few foul-mouthed tirades in their direction, remarking about how they should have gone to Specsavers or joining in when the crowd refer to them as Wayne Kerr (whoever he is). Perhaps we are too quick to criticise those men in black, especially when their job is made impossible by the playacting antics of a select few. It’s always been my belief that referees are hampered rather than helped by Fifa’s governing directive, constantly trying to justify their mistakes with the phrase, ‘the letter of the law states…’ ...

See the whole story here, courtesy of footballfancast.com.

Kicking Back Comments: The conclusion of this article is interesting and I think paints the picture of what people want out of referees. It states in full:

"I personally believe the game would benefit from placing the trust in referees to use their own knowledge and experience to make decisions. If the Fifa handbook allowed enough flexibility to be used as guidelines rather than strict commandments then perhaps officials could go one week without suffering ridicule from the stands or in the press. It’s certainly a better solution than having two wand carrying statues at each end of the pitch."

Now the interesting part is that referees have full authority to do as the author of this piece suggests, with a couple of notable caveats.

It is interesting though as it remains clear this is "what the people want", and frankly, what the very best referees do innately.