Referees

Hello, Karstuhl here!

The FIFA World Cup is upon us, for better or worse, but mostly for better.

Once again, there have been decisions by the referees that have been questioned in hindsight. When you see the reruns of some incidents in the football field, you can see that the referee interpreted the situation wrongly. Like always, there are some people who call out for the right of the referees to watch the reruns and get a second opinion. They claim this would make the games more fair.

I am against the use of reruns. I think it is in the nature of the game that the referees judge the situation live and without regret. You just have to accept this as a player and as a fan. If reruns would be allowed for a second opinion of the referee in the World Cup, you would change the game. It would not be the same game as it was before. It would also not be the same game as it would have to be in lower divisions of national leagues, because you cannot have cameras and the ability to watch reruns at every football game anywhere in the world. The World Cup football games should be like every other football game in the world.

You might say that the World Cup games are worth so much more than lower division games. Still, it is the same sport and I believe the same rules and the same respect for the decisions of the referees should be applied everywhere. This is fair.

Besides, you do not have reruns and second opinions by the judges on dog shows, either, and dog shows are so much more important than football games.