There is a ref in our league that many players on our adult league team have known for many years. It's an uneasy familiarness we have with him. Sometimes he's fair, and sometimes (mostly) he makes biased decisions against our team. This is causing a bit of a problem. We have 2 or 3 players that have had "issues" with his refereeing decisions over the years. It's never gotten physical or expletive enhanced shouting tirades though. He knows who the physical players are, he knows who the "saints" are. Most of the team goes into matches with him reffing with the knowledge that most of the calls will go against us anyways, simply because of whatever personal feelings he has against our team. First of all, he e-mailed our team manager the day before to tell him that he'd heard that one of our players simulated a dive in a match to try and fool an official. (this "incident" happened 4-5 weeks before, and shows he is familiar with people on our team, nevermind the fact that he was elbowed in the face in front of me, so it was an unfair label to put on a player in the first place, no card was given at the time or since either) The team we were playing against Sunday had 3 players already out due to suspension (3 red cards, and 7 yellow cards the previous week). Personally, coming from somebody raised in California, I wasn't shocked to see that the team was made up of hispanic players. After we go a goal ahead, and the other team had already resorted to kicking the ball away when we were awarded free kicks, we are called for a foul. The ref is running up to where the spot of the foul is and our player (one of our "saints") toe pokes the ball away as he turns to get back on defense. Well the ball bounces once and goes off the ref's shin. It's not hard at all mind you. Well, he immediately calls our player over and gives him a red card. Now, he knows this player is not a dirty player, and he knows that he didn't mean to kick the ball at him, but he claimed after the match that he had to make the decision that it was intentional, since, if it was a ref that didn't know him, would've done the same thing. How can a ref ethically hold a team to a different standard based on previous knowledge? Especially if he's going to use it as a backward defense later?
Okay, here's the deal. This is another venting thread. Your post has no relevance to this board. This is an issue you should address with the league. Also, I don't like your tone regarding ethnicity equals dirty or physical play. Thanks, Al
I would advise that you send a detailed and well thought out letter to you league's referee assignor. Include specific events including date, field location, opponent, score of match at time of the event, etc... If you can calmly explain your position as you have here, one would hope that the assignor would either stop assigning him to you or have somebody watch one of his matches involving your team without he or your team knowing. Good luck, Scott p.s. Alberto was correct, the fact that you played a hispanic team ands absolutely nothing to your issue...in fact, it might lead one to believe that you just feel that some ethnic backgrounds cheat more than others...bad form motterman!
Ill do you the courtesy of giving you my opinion. When I played I was a real jerk and had a personal beef with one referee in particular. He also had it out for me(we were both at fault) I looked for ways to needle him and he was extra harsh on me based upon my previous poor conduct. The wise thing for ME to do would have been to lay off and be extra nice to him so that I didnt give him a reason to come down on me. The wise thing for HIM to do would be to consider accepting assignments elsewhere if he couldnt be impartial or at least make an extra effort to be restrained. Either way, you should not be getting preemptory emails from a referee. I suggest you contact the league administrator with your complaints. In the interim, if you draw that reff again, keep your nose VERY clean and dont give him a chance. Good advice at all times actually.
Motterman, If you want us to discuss our ethics or something like the situations under which we would remove ourselves from or refuse the assignment to a match, then you should post the question(s) in a more generic manner. When you put it in the terms you have, it comes across more as whining or venting at this particular referee, not a genuine request for feedback from us. I also took offense to your mention of the hispanics being the type of team that would get 3 reds and 7 yellows. I referee in a Division 1 Amateur adult league and 18 of the 20 teams are predominantly hispanic. I can tell you that it is unusual to have red cards issued in these games as the referees generally have good respect of the players and the players come out on their weekends to play -- not rumble. There's no place on these boards or anywhere else for racism. To answer your underlying question about when we should or shouldn't work a given game, there's only 1 situation under which I would refuse to work a game -- that's if my son is playing in it. In the adult league I referred to above, there's one team which has a couple players that are good friends -- one of whom is a co-worker. I will make sure I'm not in the center on their game just to not have the APPEARANCE of any bias, but I have worked as an AR on their games. I supposed if I ever got into a situation where I had issued several red cards against a team or teams, I'd probably make sure I wasn't in the center for that team for a month or so just to make sure any tempers or feelings have had some time to cool.
Write a polite, factual note to the league referee assignor asking that he not be assigned to your team, if possible. (I hope that your manager still has a copy of that e-mail.) While it is good to know something about a team before a match, it is not good to punish a player or team for actions in a previous match. It is a new day and a new game. As the old adage goes, familiarity breeds contempt. In a ten-game season, no referee should see the same team more than twice. Like it or not, referees and players are human. Both will remember slights and transgressions, real or not, from previous encounters. No sense increasing the opportunity for prior actions effecting the current match. I have to constantly turn down games due to, IMHO, conflicts of interest. As a division director I was asked to referee a match involving a team that I was investigating. Ummm, no thanks. In general, I feel uncomfortable doing games in any division that I direct, but the teams have been real understanding about the shortage of referees (and most think I'm a better referee than the usual fare). I have been asked to referee the team that I managed just one or two seasons prior. Again, no thanks. It gets more interesting when I do teams that I used to play against. They all know me as "that dirty, m-f'ing a-hole" on defense (even if we shared a beer after the game). Now I'm "Mr. Referee, sir". Knowing the styles and the troublemakers has helped me anticipate potential problem match-ups that other referees may not expect, allowing me to be in a position where a quick word or whistle can defuse a volatile mix before it sparks, so it has generally been a good thing. And they also know that the first player "nsa-the referee" would likely throw out of a game would be "nsa-the player". -nat (referee and player - dr. jekyll and mr. hyde)
Thank you for your responses on what to do in this case. In hindsight, I can see where some of the comments from you about this being a complaint and not a question are valid. Gauging some of your responses to this case, I can see where you stand on this issue, which was my real intent, honestly. Since we have no recourse in appealing the red cards and 2 game suspension in our league, we are left with petitioning the league for an assessor to watch the next match he does with us, and/or requesting that we don't get matched up together in the future at all. And finally, because I have had lifelong (27 years) experiences with certain types of teams, especially growing up in California which is rich in the hispanic culture, doesn't mean I am a racist. I was speaking from my personal experience, not in an unsubstantiated stereotypical bigoted fashion. I apologize if anybody was offended, most of my friends back in California accept these things as part of some people's footballing culture - diving, faking injuries, targeting the opposing team's best player, delaying tactics on restarts and other "gamesmanship" you tend to see. I've been injured on plenty of occasions, and after it happens enough times against certain styles of teams, it's natural to get a little weary. If anything, one could argue that it's America's fault for not being "clever" enough to employ these universally accepted tactics. After all, it's been pointed out how wrong it is to paint any one group in this light. No matter how much I dislike these things personally, it's pretty much a part of the world's game sadly.
You should have stopped while you were only two steps into the dog house. It is part of the footballing culture. No one has a monopoly. Players of all nationalities, races, and creeds are prone to "simulation".
Again, I agree with nsa. Whether you want to call it experience or racism, it still amounts to the same thing -- you're categorizing all hispanic teams and hispanic players in a negative light. In my experience, the biggest hacks in the league tended not to be hispanic but white. Does that mean I think all white players are hacks? Hell no. It had nothing to do with their race, so to label it as such is WRONG.