They’re as crucial to the game of football as any player or manager, fitter than ever before and now have video assistance to aid them in their job. That, however, doesn’t mean they’re critiqued any less than before.
Is the criticism fair though? In a recent interview with UCFB, Premier League referee Jon Moss suggested more perspective is needed when assessing the performance of him and his peers.
“We’re judged so critically”, he says. “What always amazes me is that people evaluate our performance based on a high definition, slow motion replay from an angle that we don’t have. The statistics show that we get 99% of those decisions right at high speed.”
Moss, who took charge of the 2015 FA Cup final, admits he and his colleagues don’t get everything correct, calling it “impossible” to do so.
He added: “The analogy I use from my school days [Moss was a head teacher before his career as a referee] is that if you go to an air traffic controller’s performance management meeting, what’s their target? It’s to get 100% of planes down safely. Where do you go from there? You can’t get any more than that. For us as referees we’re expected to get 100% of decisions correct all of the time, and that’s impossible.”
Now though, whether we like it or not, VAR has become commonplace across a number of the world’s top leagues, including the Premier League. For Moss, it’s a welcome addition.
“I think it’s that reassurance”, he explains. “You make decisions on the pitch like you always have done and now you’ve got the added security that if it’s a clear and obvious error it’s going to get you out [of a wrong decision].”
Moss adds: “There’s no worse feeling as a referee than driving home and knowing that you’ve made an error. And because of the speed of the game, the intensity and the number of challenges that go on, there’s always going to be times when it’s almost impossible to get the correct outcome and that’s what’s great about VAR.”
Jon Moss was talking to Mark Clemmit as part of the UCFB Insight Series.
