RateTheRef

I’ve not seen enough of this World Cup to know if the tv coverage has been good, bad or indifferent, but past experience suggests it is usually rather better in these big tournaments than what we routinely get at home.  Commentators’ yak I can usually filter out, but woeful match direction in England was the main reason I had decided not to replace the telly when it packed up.  It was giving me high blood pressure!

1. Match directors in England just cannot be bothered to create a caption with ALL the officials’ names (seemingly standard throughout the rest of the world) - and sometimes they don’t even do so for the referee.  Not helped by often not showing the coin toss, ITV with its adverts and BBC with its weird obsession with showing huddles instead.

2. Showing replays while play is still going on. This drove me mad.  One day a goal will be missed (if it hasn’t already happened).

3. Even worse, showing close-ups of managers while play is going on.  (The BBC, in particular, seems to have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the cult of the football manager, something they themselves perpetuate at every opportunity).

4. So many yellow cards missed, or poorly shown with unnecessarily close-up shots, so we see the player but not the referee or the referee but not the player. 

5. An obvious lack of interest in, and knowledge of, the refereeing side of the game. And don’t get me started on the annual display of disrespect where they fail to show the officials being presented with their medals after the FA Cup Final.

I have often wondered if match directors should be required to take a referees course before being let loose on big matches.