Referees (Part 2)

I wanted to relive all of those wonderful moments of elation I felt as a boy with a ball at my feet.

In reality, every cynical foul, every attempt to cheat, every act of disrespect for the game and its disciplines, spoiled that dream; felt like a knife in my flesh, drawing blood and staining my vision of the purity of sport. I know that dream was naïve but, together with fellow referees, I tried to limit the degradation of a healthy sport by thoughtless players and fans who do not share my degree of passion.

Although my dream has rarely been realized I look back on my years as an active referee with satisfaction. I learned much about myself; about latent convictions; accepted responsibilities and developed attributes that served me well through life. In my own country, and many others in the six confederations of FIFA, I learned much about people and feel privileged to have met, and shared my love of a special sport, with a unique brotherhood of honest men and women from all walks of life.

An endangered species we might be but we'll never be extinct. We can never be replaced by robots, which could possibly impose the rules of play by computers. But without human heart judgement and streetwise justice our sport would become an arid emotional desert.

Referees will continue to rock on an emotional see-saw, one day ready to pack it all in, and then feeling an irresistible surge of adrenalin before the next match. It is an obsession which yields more satisfaction than frustration.

After this heart searching and mental agonizing I ask myself the final question, "Would you do it again?" Without hesitation I get the stupid answer "YES, SIR!"

OK, so I'm nuts, too!


(Stanley Lover is a longtime international referee instructor and author of "Official Soccer Rules Illustrated." He officiated over 1,000 soccer matches at all levels, including serving as an assistant referee in the English Football League for 11 years, plus international and European Cup games.)