Violence and the beautiful game

Saturday, 31. October 2009 - Lector Mascarenhas (GW)

We call it the beautiful game. And yet, many a times football games have resulted in lots of violence all over the world.

And unfortunately, our football crazy Goa is not immune to it. Most of the times refereeing errors are reported to be the reason for violence and the one that happened, a couple of days back during the match between Sesa Football Academy and Goa Velha SC, at Duler ground, Mapusa in the Goa Professional League is sadly one of them. The crowds just went berserk hurling bottles, chairs and whatever in sight, all aimed at the referee, alleged to have committed two crucial errors one resulting in a penalty.

Violence is an evil that can harm this beautiful game. Football promoters desire to see a football game as an entertainment and people involved in youth development encourage parents to take their wards to watch these professional games so that they can learn watching the seniors. Imagine what effect these violent incidents can have on the young impressionable minds! This can be a big setback for the future of Goan football and thus the perpetrators must be dealt with a strong arm. Violence, of any kind, must be condemned by all football lovers.

Referees are humans and bound to err but its time also for them to wake up and also pull up their socks to improve their standard. The game now is played at a fast pace and referees must keep pace with it, literally. Football is a team game but individual brilliance matters. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard, David Beckham are all known to be practicing individually, long after the team practice sessions, to perfect their skills. Footballers have to prepare both physically and mentally to give their best.

What about Referees? Are they not duty bound to do the same? Who supervises their preparation for the matches? In the absence of supervision, are they committed and dedicated to the job at hand?

Recently when the great Alex Fergusson criticized Alan Wiley, a top English Premier League referee, as being unfit, this is what he had to say about his fitness schedule.

Sports scientists are employed to monitor their fitness and detail programme is sent to them for a week which is recorded on a heart rate monitor. The data of training is then sent to the sports scientists who come to know if the referee is not working hard enough. They normally reach the place of the match four hours before on the day of the game which gives them enough time to prepare mentally for the match, talk to the managers and captains of both teams for briefing one hour before the match and then to warm up and attend to other duties. During the match they get help from technology to stay connected with the assistants during the match for better communication. After the match, assessors brief them on the spot what good or wrong they have done. DVDs of the match are then given to them to see for themselves how they have performed. Referees then watch the DVD again and again so that mistakes are not repeated in the next match. And what we see on TV, an English Premier League match is a product produced by professionals.

When our referees commit blunders players, coaches/managers do get frustrated and their body language sometimes instigate their supporters to resort to violence. Teams owners spend crores of rupees to put up a good team in India but the same cannot be said about the concerned authorities who have failed to put up a system in place to produce competent referee and assist them with the technology available.

Having said all this, if one is passionate about the game, it’s not only what you get from the game that matters, it's what one can give to the game that stands out. Commitment and dedication is what is expected from the referees to keep the game as beautiful as ever.