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Bothwell Mahlengwe
IMAGINE the Harare Derby or the Battle of Zimbabwe being played without a referee and the assistants? It would resemble a kindergarten break-time plastic ball game, but of course, with kids there would be less rivalry and more peace.  With adults, it would degenerate into a war-zone. This is how important the “Men in Black” are to the game of football, yet when great games are spoken of, their significance is never acknowledged.

Only when they perform badly are they talked of at great lengths, mainly receiving rebuke from the coaches, players and fans alike.
Referees are inevitably people who court a lot of controversy in football and, although it’s okay to say some are better than others, everyone would agree that football simply wouldn’t run without them.

They are the main men (and women) in the game of football — figures of authority.
These men and women are asked to make decisions that have huge consequences in a split of a second. More often than not they are expected to be super-humans who make no mistake at all.

They face the kind of public scrutiny that many deputy ministers and parliamentarians will never have to experience.
If the game is on television, their decisions are analysed over and over again and sometimes in super slow motion, and if they get it wrong, they face the kind of prime-time excoriation that few people in public life ever endure.

These principal figures of our game are expected to be perfectionists. Yet no one ever talks about their welfare.
When we talk about football here, it’s not common to hear the welfare of referees being talked of.
To many of us, they are irrelevant until they make a poor decision.

We have had referees being called all sorts of names for making one incorrect decision. Some are even assaulted. Stones, bottles, beer cans and all sorts of items are hurled at them for one decision that doesn’t go in favour of the fans’ team.

But do we know what sort of remuneration that these figures of authority put their reputation for? I guess not so many outside their circles care.
I am yet to see any Zifa presidential candidate who includes the welfare of referees in his manifesto. Neither have I seen this from the PSL leaders.
A look into what they have to go through before they qualify to handle a Premier League match shows that they deserve better. They endure at least three seasons officiating in Divisions 3 and 4.

After that they go through a written examination for them to be able to centre referee in Division Two and line officiate in Division One. This they do for at least two seasons.

After an assessment and they are deemed fit for advancement, they go through a Zifa Panel examination and a tough physical fitness test. If they pass, they line officiate for Premiership and centre for Division One.

They then get assessed by at least five commissioners and if they impress they have to undergo another Zifa examination. Now you can centre officiate in the Premier League. Not to mention that they have to pass the physical fitness test every year.

Now for them to be on the Fifa panel, they are chosen on superior and consistent performance in the league. They then write a higher level examination set by Fifa and undergo the Fifa fitness test.

The first fitness test requires referees to run 40 meters six times. This must be completed in 6.2 seconds for male referees. He is allowed 1 minute 30 seconds between each sprint.

The second test examines stamina in repeated high-intensity runs. He must run 150 meters in 30 seconds and then must walk 50 meters in 35 seconds.

This is repeated 20 times, which is equivalent to 10 laps around a track field.
Besides passing the fitness tests and knowing all the rules, a referee needs charisma or personality to effectively enforce the laws of the game.
I am made to understand that referees are paid US$180 for a Premiership game they handle and their assistants get US$160.

No medical aid cover, no funeral policy, no pension — nothing.
No one is guaranteed a match every week. And we expect a near-perfect performance from such a person?
Compare this with their counterparts in Spain who earn 6 000 Euros per game. In England, referees are paid 1 170 Euros per game in addition to a retainer fee of at least 38 000 Euros.

I am also made to understand that most of our referees are part-timers.
I feel this is an area that needs urgent attention from both Zifa and PSL. If our game is to move forward the plight of these men and women we expect so much from should be looked at. For starters, we need to look for a sponsor who pays match officials a reasonable game fee and a retainer fee every season they make the grade.

This will result in most, if not all, match officials taking the job full time.
This will give them more time to focus on improving their fitness levels and knowledge on the laws of the game.
I acknowledge the current system where match officials are being paid by home teams is working, but I don’t think it’s the ideal.
That plus the quantum exposes the officials to exploitation and corruption. Why put innocent souls to so much temptation?

Surely, an independent sponsor (or group of sponsors) is ideal.
What is needed is coming up with a plausible and bankable proposal and approach the business community.
Mind you some of the people running businesses were once match officials and I know they have a soft spot for what used to be their pass-time hobby.

Having said all this, I still think what happened at Ascot over the last weekend needs serious reprimand.
I know match officials inspect the pitch, most notably the nets, before kick-off and before penalty shoot-outs.
To have torn nets during a penalty shoot-out for a Premier League Cup game on continental television is not on.

It paints a bad picture on both the match officials in particular and Zimbabwe football in general.

Bothwell Mahlengwe is a banker and former Premiership footballer and can be contacted, for feedback, on the email:[email protected]