Surely, we have all at one point in our lives – or many points perhaps, found ourselves to be strongly opposed to the decision of a referee, and maybe even driven to heightened emotional outbursts of one form or another. Whether it be as a player in a game, or the audience – either live or on screen, we have most probably all experienced the exasperation and disbelief that only referees have presiding power over. Of course, in our heart of hearts we can understand that the ref’s decision is sacrosanct, and their judgement is final, because someone’s has to be. But at that fever pitch moment, it can be difficult for the best of us to keep our senses and listen to the voice of reason.
Video refereeing is a recent phenomenon to be implemented and remains a topic of debate, but whether it will protect football referees is another question. Many of us can remember the famed “hand of God” that involved Argentinian legend Diego Maradona helping the ball along its way with a tap of the hand. This was a clearly the referee’s error, but should that allow us to show any less respect for the man with the rulebook?
It shouldn’t allow anyone to launch an attack on a referee, which is sadly what happens in the worst case-scenarios, and there have been a number of violent attacks on referees in recent years, including one which led to the death of a Dutch linesman at a youth football match. But thankfully the more controversial of referee decisions usually lead to no more than a few words of anger. At an AC Milan vs Inter Milan match Ronaldinho was shown a red card while arguing with the ref, who realised a moment later that the card he intended to show was yellow. Oops!
If you’re looking for a fun game that is very unlikely to ever be taken too seriously, then why not try out bubble football? You can learn about this new and incredibly funny game from Bubble Football Budapest and give it a try. It’s very difficult for a dispute to arise on the pitch when everyone is surrounded by an inflatable bubble!
