Initiatives to develop respect towards referees in the United Kingdom Essay

Initiatives to develop respect towards referees in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Sports is an important part of our society as it brings people from varied culture and backgrounds at one place cheering for their teams and players. These people can be from different places, religion, caste and various other factors which are considered discriminatory in social norms come to an end in a sports extravaganza. Players are their heroes; they worship them, idolize them and try to imitate them. There are great things to learn from the sports, about winning and losing, sportsmanship spirit, respect for other players, etc. which bonds the society together. The major sports events and all sports fixtures are occasions on which people can open up towards those who are different themselves and learn something about others, for sport is also unrivalled as a force for bringing together and mixing different types of people and their cultures in short for allowing them to meet and to share something other than mistrust, facilitating communication and probably combats prejudice, t he tendency to make valued judgments and the types of belief that give rise to hatred and intolerance (Bodin, et al , 2005, p.163) Commonwealth of Australia (2008) once stated that â€Å"— it (sport) helps to build social cohesion that binds families, communities, regions and the nation. No other facet of our culture has the capacity to bring together so many different streams --- breaks barriers and unites those who have nothing else in common’(Hoye et al, 2009, p.225). These among the few are benefits of sports events inspiring younger generation to achieve excellence in their field. As mentioned earlier, sports benefit the society with positive inspiration but also spoil the society with the players on field behavior. It is further stated that in professional team sports with a high public profile, including association football (soccer), disciplinary transgressions by players and sanctions that are taken by referees provide a rich source of subject material for debate among pundits, journalists and the general public. The action of players and referees in UK football are keenly and intensely scrutinized in the modern day game in the event of foul play which is followed by referee’s action that in turn creates situation between players and referees, wherein players disrespect the decision of on-field referees (Dawson et al, 2007). Regardless of legitimacy, individual referees have always been easy targets and they have been accused, on innumerable occasions, of destroying the game and even influencing the outcome through partial as opposed to merely incorrect decisions. In football the referees have to consider both the ethos of the game and the playing culture, and relate these to the rules of the game. Refereeing is a complicated process, in which one has to deal with rule interpretation in light of the culture and ethos of the game as well as pressure from authorities, players, supporters and the media (Carlsson, n.d.). This paper attempts to discuss why referees in the United Kingdom are leaving football and what are the initiates carried out by Football Association, UK and UEFA for referee retention and develop sense of responsibility among players and other stakeholders apart from discussion the consequences of referee dr op out and abusive actions the match officials. Reasons why referees drop out Every year 7000 football referees are quitting because of abuse on the pitch and the touchlines which may mean shortage leading to inevitable destruction of the game in some areas. The FA spokesperson quoted that there are two and a half million people who want to play more football but there is shortage of referees and estimates that 20 percent of the games are played without a qualified match official (Mole, 2009). White