Let umpires & referees not become the hand of God!

Two incidents happened yesterday, across two continents and across the world’s two most followed sports – football & cricket – that made me wonder what the role of the referee or the umpire really is. How important are they really in determining the course of a match, and how important is it for them to have the final say.

In the first incident, Thierry Henry, the captain of France, in a play-off between France & Ireland for a place in the 2010 FIFA Cup Finals, handled the ball before passing it to William Gallas to head in a crucial 103-minute goal, scored in extra time, that helped them level scores & grab a final spot in the cup, robbing Ireland of a well-deserved win. Henry knew that he had handled the ball, and in a post match interview said, “Yes, there was a hand, but I’m not the referee.” He further added, “Of course, I kept playing. The referee didn’t whistle for hand-ball. I was behind two Irish players, the ball bounced and it hit my hand.” The evidence was there for all to see in television replays, but the referee missed seeing it. There have been protests by Ireland, including even their prime minister throwing his weight behind this and asking for a rematch. However, FAI has refused to let a rematch happen, citing rules that say that a referee’s decision is final, despite their statement earlier in the day: “The blatantly incorrect decision by the referee to award the goal has damaged the integrity of the sport.” It is, after all, a judgment error by the person in-charge of judgments, and more than anything, it is the governing body’s unwillingness to correct the error citing outdated rules, that is causing more heartburn than Henry’s non-sporting spirit.

In the second incident, Rahul Dravid was adjudged LBW in the ongoing cricket test match between Sri Lanka & India, whereas television replays showed that the ball would have missed the leg-stump. With India fighting with their backs to the wall, the last thing they needed was a wrong decision going against them, and that too against a batsman of the caliber of Dravid, who India desperately needed at the crease. However, nobody is a culprit here (unlike Henry in the first incident), and it is truly a case of judgmental error on the part of umpire Daryl Harper, who declared Dravid out. One does not know as yet what the outcome of the match will finally be, and whether even Dravid could have made a difference had he not been sent back to the pavilion, but clearly India have suffered.

In the context of the above two, let us examine the role that referees & umpires are supposed to play.

First, they are supposed to be guardians of the game, and ensure fair-play between the two teams playing the match.

Second, they are supposed to be disciplinarians, given absolute authority, who ensure that each member of both teams follows the rules of the game at all times.

Third, they are supposed to be unbiased in their approach irrespective of which side their loyalties may lie with as a fan/countryman.

So, let us examine what went wrong. In both the instances, I think the referee and the umpire followed all three true to their heart & their profession. Still, wrong decisions happened. Human error, surely, that could be taken as just a human error, and we get on with the game. However, such errors were acceptable in the good, old days, when there were no means to check if there was any error, and you had to accept the referee’s/umpire’s verdict, come what may. Today, with technology like instant television replays, hawk-eye, snick-o-meter, etc. available, which help in minimizing human error, why should human error be acceptable at all? After all, the ultimate objective of refereeing or umpiring is to give fair decisions in case of dispute or doubt. And in the interest of that, if technology can aid, why should we shy away from that?

Cricket has evolved to a certain extent with third-umpire referrals, and the world’s most famous, loved & record-holding cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, became the first player to be declared out by a third umpire. Howsoever the Indians may have rued that incident, it was a step in the right direction. It does away with ambiguity and it does away with cheating. After all, Henry is the captain of his national side, as was Diego Maradona of Argentina, when he became the ‘Hand of God’ in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. So, we know, that even the best are prone to a little cheating to win a match.

Cricket, has its own instance of infamy with batsmen refusing to walk, especially in caught behind decisions, unless given out by the umpire. However, Adam Gilchrist of Australia always went against his team’s policy of remaining standing at the crease unless given out (as per the game’s rules), and always walked magnanimously whenever he thought he was out, without waiting for the umpire’s decision. More recently, there have been very sporting gestures by captains that are unprecedented, and show that cricket still has some gentlemen left. In a recent match between England & Sri Lanka, England’s captain Andrew Strauss recalled Angelo Mathews of Sri Lanka, who had been stranded after a mid-pitch collision with Graham Onions and run out, and asked him to bat on despite being declared out. Even more significant was a decision by New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori this year, when he spared Paul Collingwood of England, after he strayed out of his crease before the over was called and was run out by the wicket-keeper McCullum. According to the rules of the game, Collingwood was out. But Vettori went with the spirit of the game, and allowed him to bat on. This despite a similar incident happening a year ago at The Oval, when Collingwood himself, as captain of England, had disallowed New Zealand's Grant Elliott a reprieve, after he had been run out after a mid-pitch collision with England’s Ryan Sidebottom. The umpires were obliged to rule him out, and Collingwood's refusal to withdraw the appeal had infuriated Vettori.

Next week, cricket takes a giant leap in ensuring correctness of decision making and therefore, in fair-play & results. In the three test series between New Zealand & Pakistan, ICC will introduce a new system to review umpire’s decisions, the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), using ball tracking technology. This is indeed the right and a very welcome step towards making the sport error-free, and I guess football can also take some lessons from cricket. Otherwise, the umpires & the referees may continue to become the hand of God, and continue to deal cruel blows.