Black mark for the men in black – do they deserve it?

THEY are called the men in black. They call the shots. But sometimes, they shoot themselves in the foot.

The life of football referees is tough indeed. They never get noticed for making the right calls.

But make one wrong one, and that can infuriate legions of fans, players and officials.

They have to endure abuse from players, coaches and spectators. They will not make the headlines for being good at the job.

Although their split-second decisions can decide the outcome of matches, their role is to stay in the shadows and control the match without angering either team.

In England, Premier League referee David Coote takes the cake for being the bad boy of the game.

He was suspended recently after a video appeared that showed him insulting former Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp. He used expletives to undermine the former Reds boss.

And if that was not enough, new allegations have emerged, that Coote tried to arrange a “drugs party” during Manchester City’s Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham in October.

And another clip has come to light of a man – alleged to be him – snorting white powder during Euro 2024, where he was an official.

Coote was also the ref who awarded the spotkick through Video-Assisted Review (VAR) which saw West Ham beat Manchester United. That resulted in the United manager Erik ten Hag getting fired.

Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of the Premier League, admitted that West Ham were wrongly awarded a penalty through VAR, according to a report in ESPN.

But it is not just in the English Premier League.

Right here in our own Super League, two referees – Razlan Joffri Ali and Ahmad Zuhardi Dzulkifli – have been suspended for two games after they were found to be inaccurate in their decisions over two incidents.

Razlan did well to stop the escalating scuffle between Johor Darul Ta’zim winger Arif Aiman Hanapi and Perak wingback Tommy Mawat Bada in the 84th minute of their match but what he did after that came as a big surprise and a letdown though. Instead of red-carding Arif, who threw a punch at Tommy who then retaliated, the ref just flashed a yellow card.

Earlier, he did not award a penalty for Perak in the 38th minute despite using the VAR.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) stepped in and their deputy president, Datuk S. Sivasundaram, who chairs the Referees Committee, decided to take further action, which led to the suspension of both the refs.

Not only that, they will have to attend counselling and education sessions. It shows that FAM do take the quality of refereeing seriously.

Referees however, have been on the receiving end from players, coaches and fans for no fault of theirs too.

Although some have done their job well to keep order on the pitch, they still have been threatened, attacked and ridiculed through the social media platforms.

There have been instances when junior players attacked referees. It shows that the lack of respect for referees is widespread. This must change too.

Players, coaches and fans have to respect the role of the referees, Of course, these officials have to maintain a high standard of refereeing.

It’s hard to be right every time when you have to make quick decisions, especially when the situation is intense and players or coaches are losing their cool.

Education, integrity and respect are the keys but it has to cut both ways.

There is a need for more education for players, fans and club officials. They have to be reminded that, far from being a hindrance, referees are people who give their best to enable everyone to enjoy the game.