By Sheldon Hakata

THE debate on officiating has once again rocked global football, especially with the use of the much maligned Video Assistant Referee (VAR) but in this country it is the ‘incompetence’ of match officials that has become a cause for concern.

Referees and other football match officials are trained and licenced by member-national organisations with strict adherence to internationally prescribed standards. 

The final authority on all matters connected with play on the field during an association football match rests squarely on match officials.

Two assistant referees (formerly known as linesmen) who, each patrols half the touchline on opposite sides of the field advise the referee in situations such as when the ball leaves the field of play and on infringements of the laws of the game that occur out of view of the referee.

The man in the centre, who usually covers the ground not covered by the assistants, has authority to overrule an assistant referee, therefore making assistant referees’ decisions ‘not binding’.

He makes rulings on team officials for failing to conduct themselves in a responsible manner, and may even expel them from the field of play and its immediate surroundings in extreme cases.

Match officals also use whistles to help control the match.

All the referees are encouraged to carry a watch, a data wallet with pen, paper and a coin to determine which team has the choice of kick-off.

The referee carries yellow and red cards to indicate a caution for misconduct or a send-off, respectively.

The watch is used to calculate time lost during stoppage time for the purposes of added (extra) time.

The world football governing body, FIFA, allows referees to wear colours such as black, yellow and green. Along with these jerseys, black shorts, black shoes and socks with stripes are recommended.

A badge that displays a referee’s licence level and year of validity is often affixed to the left chest pocket.  

Referees undoubtedly have a very tough job.

The match between Dynamos and Highlanders at Rufaro Stadium, on Sunday, was fairly important in so far as the above issues are concerned.

It probably was not the sort of match in which to make such mistakes and blatant bias towards the home team.

The match official made decisions that left many a fan wondering what was going on.

When such moments occur on the biggest stages of all, when league cup titles and relegation battles are at stake, it renders the world’s most beautiful game ugly.

If there is a decision that lives up to the stereotype of referees being joyless souls with nothing but the ice in their veins, it was the Sunday match when Dynamos played Highlanders in a high profile and tension-filled encounter at Rufaro Stadium.

Some major incidences and a string of crude fouls were ignored by the match officials on the day.

Midlands-based referee Munyaradzi Majoni has been blamed for influencing Sunday’s match result in favour of DeMbare after an embarrassing show.

Majoni was somehow overwhelmed with handling the country’s flagship encounter at Rufaro Stadium.

The referee did not send off offenders but just booked and gave fouls as if the incidences were completely unintentional and thus did not warrant stern action.

The referee denied Highlanders clear fouls in Dynamos’ half.

Statistics reveal that Majoni’s questionable decisions included 18 free kicks awarded against  Highlanders in their own half while only two were awarded to Highlanders in Dynamos’ half.  

After flashing yellow cards which should have, of course, been followed by a red, the match official appeared to have completely forgotten the rules of the game.

Soccer organisations need to have highly experienced referees during big games.

However, it appears the home advantage in soccer also affects referees who end up giving more decisions to the home team.

It seems some referees cannot cope with the pressure associated with big matches as huge noisy crowds apparently affect even the referees.

Maybe the referee, on Sunday, found it difficult to make decisions based purely on the rulebook in the face of crowd noise.

Nevertheless,  it is bad practice to stray from the rules, even under pressure.