The B*****d in Black: Should We Do More To Protect Referees?

                      The announcement of Howard Webb as the referee of this weekend's Manchester derby caused many groups of City fans to take to social media and call fix, at times abusing the policeman from the North East. This all comes after a statement last week from former referee Mark Halsey, who has said that without further support for the officials, we will soon see a referee becoming so under pressure they may consider taking their own life. Whilst this claim may appear dramatic on the surface, there is much in the way of evidence to support it. This post will look at recent examples of top class referees being put under intense pressure, before examining the potential fixes to this problem.

                        In terms of examples, I can recall three in recent years of referees receiving threats against his person, or even his life. The one I will start with is Tom Henning Ovrebo, whose name will be all too familiar with Chelsea fans. In the 2009 UEFA Champions League semi final, the Norwegian had a shocking evening, refusing to grant Chelsea two stonewall penalties, and potentially even a third, and debatably dismissing Eric Abidal. However, the final two penalty claims, which came after Andres Iniesta's dramatic late equaliser, sent many of the Chelsea players into a rage, surrounding the referee in complaint. The Norwegian left the field to a chorus of boos. Had that been the end of the story, it would have been acceptable, as the crowd has every right to voice their displeasure. What they do not have the right to do is send the referee threatening messages, both through the post and over social networking sites. This is what happened to Ovrebo, with threats against his life common in the following fortnight.

                          Example number two is the referee of the EURO 2004 quarter final between Portugal and England: Urs Meier. The Swiss official generally had a good game, however his performance will be best remembered for a shocking error which cost England their place in the competition. At 2-2, and deep into stoppage time, a Beckham corner was met powerfully by Sol Campbell, thumping the ball into the net. Unbelievably, the referee had blown his whistle for a foul, despite Campbell failing to come into contact with anyone until after he had headed the ball. This effectively denied England a place in the semi-finals, and ultimately eliminated them, as penalties resulted in the inevitable elimination. Meier, like Ovrebo, suffered an influx of death threats, leading to him being given personal security for some time afterwards.

                            The final example is the one referred to by Mark Halsey last week. Mark Clattenburg was relieved of his refereeing duties mid-way through last season, after it emerged that accusations had been made that the official had racially abused Chelsea's John Obi Mikel. In fact, these accusations had been completely fabricated by the Chelsea players, and passed onto Mikel as if fact. This led, understandably, to a very angry Nigerian. However, less acceptable was his reaction. After the game had concluded the midfielder, by all accounts, barged into the referee's dressing room and threatened to break his legs. It has to be said that these rumours were not started by Mikel himself, so it is slightly different to other examples. However, it does indicate just how high passions run on the football field.

                             So what can be done to help referees? Having experienced abuse from the sidelines as a referee first-hand, I can certainly vouch for the argument that the Respect campaign has done next to nothing for the game. People can still lip read what Wayne Rooney says to referees, players continue to get in the faces of referees when a decision goes against them, and I am certain that there are many incidents that go completely unpunished. Any referee that feels threatened is unacceptable, and must be stamped out. What crowds don't understand when they abuse referees is that without one, the game could not begin. It is therefore pointless abusing them, and even more pointless complaining about decisions that have already been made. We will not change our minds!

                              Having said that, recieving abuse from fans during the game is something that a referee has to accept as being part and parcel of the game. When passions run high, sometimes fans will use offensive language towards officials that have made poor decisions. That is not to excuse racist or any other type of discriminatory abuse, as that is certainly the exception to the rule. However, general abuse from the fans is to be expected, and referees have put themselves in the frame for that. The area that football needs to stamp out of the game is the abuse of referees by footballers on the pitch, and the subsequent abuse that referees recieve after the game.

                              In terms of the off-field abuse, which has often resulted in death threats being sent to referees, there is little more the world of football can do other than to appeal to the common sense of the football fans involved. The police must be trusted to act swiftly and harshly against offenders, and football as a sport must punish any person found guilty with lifetime bans. I think the best way to combat the ever declining treatment of officials on the pitch is to go right back to the very grass roots of the game and make more sending-off worthy offences. Attempting the top-down approach, like the Respect, has been proven to be ineffective, so perhaps it is best to concentrate on the next generation of football players. By giving harsher sanctions for dissent and abuse from a very early age, to both the players and the crowd, referees can wrestle back the control from the sidelines, and gain the sort of status that rugby officials enjoy. Whilst not available at the grass roots, video and audio technology could also be used to retrospectively ban players who have been caught abusing referees on camera or microphone. However, one way in which referees can help themselves is by explaining their decisions, and admitting when they have made mistakes. I am a big supporter of referee press conferences, as it gives the officials the chance to explain their actions, and give the situation from their perspective. This would help to clear up much of the debate of the did they/didn't they see it.

                                Nevertheless, even without these press conferences, abuse of any referee is unacceptable. And it does not bode well for the future of the game. Speaking from experience, the abuse that I recieved from parents at youth level as a referee at 14 well and truly put me off from continuing it as a career. If more make the same decision, we could find ourselves with a distinct shortage of top quality referees, which will only anger fans more, as more mistakes will be made. Referees are put under exceptional pressure, and they do an excellent job 99% of the time. And 99% of fans respect that. But we still need to act to prevent that 1% of fans in the 1% of cases ruining football in the present, and the future.

                          

Chris Froome Wins 2013 Tour De France: Like London Buses?

                           The 100th edition of the Tour De France, held over the last few weeks, has not been without incident. Crashes, controversy and drug talk has followed the cyclists around France, culminating in the second British winner in two years, after over two centuries of failure. Certainly British cycling has improved over the last few decades, with riders like Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and, more recently, Chris Froome coming to the fore. Are we seeing the beginning of a spell of British dominance in the Tour, or is it just a case of 'London buses': we wait centuries for one, and then two come along at once? This blog post will sum up the events of the 2013 Tour de France, and assess whether we are likely to see further British winners in the near future.

                            This year's tour began in chaos, with a team bus becoming stuck at the finish line, causing a huge pile up. This left Tony Martin with a concussion and a contusion on his left lung, and Geraint Thomas with a fractured pelvis. The carnage also prevented Mark Cavendish from taking the first yellow jersey of his career, leaving Marcel Kittel to take the first stage. Froome and Team Sky's consistency ensured that Froome rose from his initial classification of 41st after stage 1, to 7th after the team time trial stage 4. Stage 5 saw the Manxman Cavendish take another stage in his career, with a convincing sprint finish to win. Froome had to wait until the 8th stage to take a victory, simultaneously claiming the yellow jacket for the first time. An emphatic 51 second victory gave signs of what was to come, and set Froome up nicely for the mid-part of the Tour.

                              Froome maintained his lead over the next four stages, giving himself a three minute overall lead by the end of stage 11. Stage 11 will also be memorable for Mark Cavendish. Neither the Tour, nor the Olympics, has given Cavendish the success that many believe he is due, with the Manxman the only British rider in 2012 not to take a gold medal home from London. This year was unfortunately no exception to that pattern, with his most memorable moment coming in the cycle between Avranches and Mont-Saint-Michel. After being blamed for a collision in the previous stage, Cavendish recieved whistles, boos, and most seriously, was sprayed with urine by a spectator as he rode in stage 11. A shameful act, which threatened to derail an otherwise enthralling Tour. Cycling as a sport does not need further controversy, with the doping scandals still hanging over the athletes heads. Further questions were to be raised after the announcement by Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell, stating that they had been found guilty of doping. This led to questions over the conduct of Tour leader Froome, to the extent that some of his blood was sent off for analysis, and tapes of his previous Tour performances were reviewed, in order to determine whether it was 'humanly possible to improve to that level without doping'. Fortunately for both the Brit, and cycling as a sport, the tests concluded that Froome had not been doping, and was able to continue his assault on the rest of the field.

                                Over the next couple of stages, Froome's lead began to be eaten away at, losing a full minute in stage 13, and finishing 7 minutes adrift of the stage winner in the following race. His grip on the yellow jersey was beginning to look tenuous, and he will have undoubtedly been looking nervously over his shoulder. However, he responded in magnificent fashion, taking stage 15 on the backdrop of one of the most iconic mountain climbs of the Tour, and extending his lead to four minutes over the chasing pack. Surely it was his to lose now? A further victory in the individual time trial stage 17, saw the Brit practically confirmed as the Tour winner, as only a crash, or a serious incident, could prevent him from taking his maiden Tour victory. The win was confirmed in the final stage, finishing safely in the peloton to ensure that he followed Bradley Wiggins's lead, and became only the second Briton ever to win the historic event. The final stage also saw the incredible run of Mark Cavendish come to an end. Having won 4 successive stages on the Champs-Elysees, the Manxman failed to emulate his previous successes, being pushed out by the sprint king of the 2013 Tour, Marcel Kittel. But the day belonged to Froome, who stepped out of the shadow of Bradley Wiggins's sideburns, and showed that he is a fantastic rider in his own right. I am certain we will see many battles, both on the road and the track, between the pair of them over the coming years. British cycling certainly seems to be in good hands.

                                   Traditionally, Britain have always been successful when it comes to cycling. In recent Olympics, this has been magnified, with names like Victoria Pendleton, Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Laura Trott and Mark Cavendish becoming household names. There was certainly reason to be concerned that this was just a 'Golden Era' for British cycling, as these 'eras' often only last a decade or so. If we look at other sports, England's dominance in rugby lasted less than that, and England's 'Golden Generation' in football never really materialised. So concerns were certainly raised when it began to look as though Beijing would be Chris Hoy's last Olympics, and Pendleton began to look past her best. However, firstly Wiggins, and then Froome on the men's side, and Laura Trott on the women's side, seem capable of picking up the mantle, and certainly seem no less talented than their pre-decessors. Credit must go the British Cycling coaches, headed by Dave Brailsford, for managing to consistently nurture such fantastic talent. As for whether we will see British dominance in the Tour de France, I think we would optimistic to predict that. However, I wouldn't mind betting that both Froome, and Wiggins, will be considered amongst the favourites every time they take to the hallowed streets.