Refereeing
Once upon a time back in the olden days
when I used to play football (poorly) I often wondered why people wanted to
referee. After all it is a thankless task and a very difficult job. Unless you
are a full time professional referee (of whom there are very few), the pay is
poor so people can’t be doing it for the money. If referees have a good game
they are seldom mentioned. If they have a bad game (and we’re all human and
prone to error) they are pilloried. They are subjected to abuse from players
and even worse from spectators (most of whom don’t know the Laws of the game
and would never dare to referee).
I am reading Graham Poll’s autobiography at
the moment (you will remember him as the EPL referee sent home from the World
Cup for booking Josip Simunic three times in the Australia V Croatia match).
It’s a good read, honest and to the point as you would expect from him. In it
he explains that he became a referee simply because he loves the game of
football. In recent months I have spoken to many referees in Hong Kong and from
further afield who all say the same thing. They do it for the love of the game.
Those of us that play or watch should be
eternally grateful that there are people who love our sport so much, that they
are prepared to put themselves in the spotlight time and time again. Without referees
there would be no football – it is as simple as that.
Project Phoenix is about raising the
standard of football and that includes raising the standard of refereeing.
There is a symbiotic relationship between the two. I think it’s getting harder
to referee, the pace and intensity of the game is increasing and some of the
Laws can be interpreted in different ways (despite FIFA’s attempts to remove
any ambiguity). That means that we must work harder to recruit more referees,
implement systems to develop their skills and fitness and rigorously monitor
their performance.
To help in that respect the HKFA has
recently appointed its first full time Referees Manager, Mr Charles Cheung, a
respected FIFA referee. Charles has already started to make a difference and is
putting in place plans to further develop refereeing in Hong Kong at all
levels. Charles has changed careers to help Hong Kong football, again because
he loves the sport. I hope he gets the support of players, Clubs, fans and
other referees.
The pictures below were taken at a recent
Referees Assessor course organized by Charles. Over 30 people took part which
just goes to show how many people love the sport. The HKFA is grateful for the
commitment shown. Again, I remind you; no referees, no football!
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曾經有段日子我沉醉於足球運動(自認技遜一籌)，那時我很奇怪為甚麼有人會喜歡擔任裁判員(球證)，因為這項普遍被視之不會受人頌讚和艱苦的工作，除非你是一名全職專業裁判員(不過為數極少)，若不是則難以此賺錢為生。如果一場執法水準高的比賽，球證一角總會被人遺忘，反之裁判員卻因執法水平欠佳而變成球賽中的主角(我們皆是人，都會有出錯的時候)，他們往往淪為笑柄，甚至被球員或球迷作為唾罵的對象(大部分球迷未必深諳球賽規例，因此從不會站在球證一方)。
我拜讀了格拉咸．普爾的自傳(普爾是英超聯的著名球證之一，曾在2006年世界盃澳洲對克羅地亞一仗中，向施蒙歷出示三張黃牌才逐他離場)，書中所言展露了普爾真誠的一面，在他的憶述中道出他立志成為一位裁判員的原因，就是因為他喜愛足球運動。最近數月來，我亦曾在香港與多位裁判員論及這個話題，他們的答案如出一轍，即熱愛足球，才會全心投入工作中。
無論你是喜歡踢足球或觀賞球賽，大家都應對這班熱愛從事運動工作的人士表達衷心感謝，縱使再次成為鎂光燈的主角，他們依舊毫不畏懼站在球場上。如果沒有比賽執法者，就沒有足球運動，道理就是如此簡單。
「鳳凰計劃」是旨在提升本地足球發展的整體水平，當然包含裁判水平的提升，兩者關係可謂唇齒相依。隨著比賽的激烈度和速率提升，加上部份比賽條例存在不同詮釋(儘管國際足協致力消除條例上的灰色地帶)，我相信現時裁判員的工作愈見困難。因此，我們應該積極招攬更多裁判員加入，並制訂相關系統來培訓他們的技能和體能，同時嚴厲監督他們的執法表現。
為達成上述目標，香港足球總會(足總)首次聘請全職裁判經理—張炎有先生，他是一位聲譽甚隆的國際足協球證。張先生已開始制訂不同計劃以加強發展各個級別的本地裁判工作，他決定改變其個人仕途來為香港足運發展出一份力，同樣地亦是出於熱愛運動之心。我衷心希望張先生能夠獲得球員、球會、球迷以至裁判員的全力支持。
以下圖中所見，是最近一次由張炎有先生舉辦的裁判評估員課程，當日大約逾三十名人士出席，再次反映有多少人喜歡這項運動。足總在此深表致意。我再次強調一點，沒有裁判員，就沒有足球運動！
