Hey Ref, Your Seeing-eye Dog is S***ing All Over the Locker Room

Cross posted at SoccerBlog.

I thought I would open up a discussion on the officiating.

First a comment and a war (literally) story. I was a certified official for several years in the early 1980s in Illinois. Coming from the playing side (I still was playing in leagues in Chicago), I had some definitive opinions on refereeing. They were wrong.

IMHO, the first 10 minutes of the game make or break an official. During that time, you will either establish your credibility or cede the game to the players. A referee must be decisive, fair and right. Do this in the first 10 minutes and the rest of the game falls into place. No gamesmanship, no BS.

In mid-May 1982, I was assigned a game between two club teams; the English and the Argentineans. Look again at the date and look again at the clubs. I vividly remember the sinking of the British destroyer by an Exocet missile, because the game occurred less then a week afterwards. Within 6 minutes, there were 3 red cards and 4 yellows. During this time, a soccer game briefly broke out during a brawl. Taking the captains aside (who were friends incidentally), the three of us reestablished the game and it continued without incident (relatively speaking).

This was extreme, but my sense in watching the games this year is that a number of referees are ceding control to the players. Thoughts?