It seems like refereeing culture in rugby is superior in just about every respect to refereeing culture in football. Rugby players have a near-absolute respect for the ref’s calls, while football players dissimulate, shout abuse and physically intimidate referees in just about every game.
I put this down to rugby having such strong roots in amateur sport, where football, being professional, made star players and managers so powerful that they gained a kind of impunity and began to pressure refs simply because they could and it served them.
What stops the PGMOL or FIFA referees worldwide from straight-up carding players for disrespect, or what makes their organisations so spineless and shit, though, I just don’t know.
I somewhat think there’s a higher degree of respect on the rugby field with the ref and other players because it’s on the edge of violence. If there was no respect then it would get out of hand very quickly. It’s necessary for the game to work.
It seems like refereeing culture in rugby is superior in just about every respect to refereeing culture in football. Rugby players have a near-absolute respect for the ref’s calls, while football players dissimulate, shout abuse and physically intimidate referees in just about every game.
I put this down to rugby having such strong roots in amateur sport, where football, being professional, made star players and managers so powerful that they gained a kind of impunity and began to pressure refs simply because they could and it served them.
What stops the PGMOL or FIFA referees worldwide from straight-up carding players for disrespect, or what makes their organisations so spineless and shit, though, I just don’t know.
I somewhat think there’s a higher degree of respect on the rugby field with the ref and other players because it’s on the edge of violence. If there was no respect then it would get out of hand very quickly. It’s necessary for the game to work.