Being a referee has to be one of the toughest jobs in all of sport. In football, this individual has the power to change a match in a matter of seconds, something a referee should never hope for by the way. A referee's decision should always be determined by a player's actions.

Now this is not an article to further criticize officials in football. Instead, this article will try to defend the referees of our game.

Whether you are refereeing in your local recreational league, or a match at the FIFA World Cup, every referee starts their training at the same level. Over the years, they acquire certifications and work their way up to the professional level, first starting out as assistant referees, referees and even fourth officials.

What drives an individual to become a professional referee is often mindboggling considering how much abuse they get from players, coaches and fans. Seriously, when you think of it, you must be a tad mental to take up this profession. There can't really be people out there who enjoy being yelled at for 90 minutes straight, can there? Apparently there are.

A referee is the only profession I can think of that you're in a 'damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't' situation. No matter what call they make; there will almost always be somebody or a team screaming as a result. It could be a late penalty call or a throw-in in the fourth minute, some team or player will be livid. Neither side will ever be pleased at the same time. It just can't happen during a match.

It's very easy to criticize decisions made by officials. A lot of fans forget about this, and this is something that makes football great and authentic in my opinion, it's that there is no video replay available in our sport. Unlike every other sport, football referees do not have the luxury of stopping a match to check if the player was really clipped inside the area or if the ball crossed the line. It's a split second decision.

After spotting an infraction, the referee has literally seconds to make a decision and stop the play. Depending on how the referee saw the incident, it can go one way or the other. The ref has no way of reliving the moment and just has to stick with his gut and make the decision.

At home, you're feverishly cursing at your television after seeing the replay a bunch of times, and in slow motion. Live, you thought the referee actually made the right call, turns out he didn't after seeing it on replay. It happens all the time doesn't it? Sometimes it's even the opposite where you were wrong initially and the replay confirms the referee's decision.

There are three pairs of eyes, sometimes five, in charge of overseeing a football match. One center referee is responsible for 22 players on the pitch. Mistakes will happen, referees are humans. I'm a huge fan of this human-error factor. Sometimes your team gets the short end of the stick; sometimes you get a lucky break.

At the same time, I do agree that a game should not be influenced by a certain decision from the referee. But, is there a way of fixing this? Would technology really help? I don't think so.

Look at other sports. In hockey, the play stops consistently and officials get to have another look at the play. In American football, the play stops even more. In both these sports, technology solves little as there just as much 'poor' officiating, if not more, than in football.

The thing I hate most seeing, especially at the grassroots level of the game, is when coaches or parents lose it with the referee. What gives you the right to yell at the referee because you thought a decision should have been in your favour? Did you ever referee a match in your past? Probably not. I agree referees should know the rules of the game, but so should coaches, players and parents in my opinion.

Just to prove this, I'm sure there are people reading this and actually think 'playing with the ball while on the floor' is an actual foul/rule in football. It's not. Think I'm wrong? Find it in the latest updated FIFA Laws of the Game and let me know.

I grew up playing the sport like many others have in the past. I also was a local referee for a few years at the regional level and have now moved on to coaching for the past five years. No, I've never made it to the professional level, but I still feel I see the game a lot differently than most people. Having done all three, I understand what it's like to be the frustrated player, or the referee calling the game. As coach, no matter how much I think a referee made the wrong decision, I will never get into an argument with the referee. I was in their shoes once and know how they feel.

A lot of people, and I mean A LOT, blame the referees for certain outcomes of matches. It can be at your child's U-11 game or the Major League Soccer game you just watched. I find this to be the worst excuse in the books.

At the youth level, if you're like this guy please stop right now.



Your child is not a professional footballer...yet. Stop expecting to have world class referees at your child's U-8 game. You'll probably have some kid fresh out of refereeing classes doing his first match as the head referee. If you dislike his refereeing, go see the club or region responsible for training the poor kid and talk to them. Realizing you're getting angry at somebody two or three times younger than you is just plain out embarrassing.

At the professional level, as a fan or as a player, stop constantly blaming the referee for your side's loss. I know there are many wrong calls, especially in Major League Soccer for example, which we all know. We've witnessed them all first hand; the wrongly given free-kicks, offside calls, and ones that just leave you scratching your head. But you know what; at least the poor quality is consistent. I mean at this point you just have to expect those bad calls. C'est la vie...nothing you can do about it.

If you still think most referees are incompetent and don't know anything about the sport, go sign up and become a referee. Even refereeing local kick-abouts at the park nearby your house, you'll get to see how demanding it is. Your perception of referees will change, I guarantee it.

You could have been around the game all your life, a former professional, and know every single rule in the book. But, when it comes down to making that split second decision you'll understand just how tough it is to make the perfect call under pressure. Sometimes you'll get the call wrong, other times you will be correct. It happened to me, it'll happen to you and it'll keep happening to the guy in-charge of your next match.

The purpose of this article is not to defend everything a referee does. They are not always right and they constantly make wrong calls throughout matches. Instead, the purpose of this article was to bring up the side that's never really looked at when it comes to the referee debate. Referee mistakes are as much as part of the game as goals, corner kicks, goal kicks, etc.

Hopefully next time you watch a football match, you'll see it in a different way. Maybe you'll start understanding more how referees work and will stop blaming them whenever something goes wrong.