It is a tough old life being a referee. Shouted at for 90 minutes and then reprimanded further after the game for mistakes they did or did not make.
I think it would be a great idea to place microphones on refs just to see how much verbal abuse they receive from football players. The officials in rugby games have microphones and you can hear how they calmly control the game and get little abuse from the players. This reinforces the popular saying: football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan’s game played by gentlemen.
Yes, those overpaid Premier League footballers really do let loose on those referees, making it something of an undesirable occupation to be honest with you. Especially when you consider that they have to run around for 90 minutes and get none of the glory.
What if they started fighting back though? What if Mark Clattenburg, no longer under Sir Alex Ferguson’s spell, slapped Wayne Rooney in the face the next time the Manchester United striker gave him a bit of grief. Imagine Chris Hoy kicking Luis Suarez in the crown jewels after he was booked for diving. I would personally applaud such resistance to the abuse they receive but, unfortunately, refs would probably find themselves unemployed if they employed such tactics.
The prospect of unemployment didn’t phase this referee from Kuwait, however, as he took matters into his own hands when a team decided to gang up and give him what for after he awarded a penalty to the opposing team. It looked like a penalty to me so I feel that the ref was fully justified when he knocked out a player who got a bit too touchy feely.
Vive la Referee!