Normally I'd use this space to answer reader-submitted questions about refereeing decisions and the Laws of the Game. I invite you to submit your own questions (leave a comment, or send an email to canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com) for future editions. But for this week, it behooves me to touch on the latest brouhaha to embroil close followers of the beautiful game.
In case you're unfamiliar with the situation, Sky Sports commentators Andy Gray (well, now a former commentator) and Richard Keys were caught in a misogynistic little exchange in reference to 25-year-old assistant referee Sian Massey (video below). Gray's firing, for what it's worth, was not entirely based on those comments; it evidently had something to with another bit of
But Gray and Keys, in their own neanderthalic way, raise a valuable question: Do women understand the offside rule?
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I'm going to answer my own question with another question: Do men understand the offside rule?
A video by Emine Saner of The Guardian, in which she asks random men on the street if they can explain the rule, seems to suggest that they don't. (Though, in a discouraging bit of irony, one fellow decides his best shot at explaining the rule is with the following example: "Not in a sexist way, but say you was in the shop buying a handbag..." Sigh.)
But here's the best question of all: Do Andy Gray or Richard Keys understand the offside rule?
My guess, based on the vast majority of on-air commentators I've listened to: Not a fucking chance.
I don't get it, really. Do Gray and Keys think Sian Massey just materialized from thin air on the sideline of a Premiership match? Whatever other problems the English F.A. may have, I'm going to have to assume that anyone entrusted with officiating a match at the highest level has probably undergone pretty thorough training which -- and I'm assuming, once again -- must include a pretty thorough reading of Law 11.
Now, this incident has little to do with the offside rule per se, and nearly everything to do with misogynistic attitudes that are anachronistically entrenched in the operational strata of sports, at all levels.
While being purposefully vague so as to protect those involved, suffice to say that in my time as a referee, I have encountered more incidents than I'd like to recall in which coaches or parents treated female referees (many of whom were mere teenagers) in a manner that I don't believe they'd have treated a male official. I say this with confidence considering that, on multiple occasions, my mere arrival on the scene has served to very quickly placate the plaintiffs.
It's the pathetic, cowardly behaviour and attitude of a classic bully -- and it has no place in sports at any level, whether the participants are toddlers or highly-paid pros.
I will admit that there are potential problems endemic to the assignment of a female referee to a game featuring male players.
There is no value judgment attached to the empirically-proven statement that men and women are biologically different. So, if one was predisposed to do so, one could argue that a female referee's cardiovascular conditioning could become an issue. The simple refutation is as follows: All governing bodies in soccer compel referees to undergo yearly fitness assessments in order to maintain certification at certain levels. So that's that.
There's also the concern about whether a female referee has the proper "man management" skills, if you'll forgive the expression. Yet I could, and probably will, write a column about how very few male referees appear to have exemplary "man management" skills these days, considering the preponderance of yelling-in-the-ref's-face sessions that go unpunished.
The average soccer player, from my experience, is willing to treat the referee with respect if they believe the ref is knowledgeable, fair and open to treating the players with similar respect. Referees of both genders are capable of possessing (or not possessing) these particular qualities; and if an individual player holds sexist beliefs that prohibit them from looking past a referee's body parts, then chances are, said player is a mentally stunted troglodyte who's likely to get sent off for something-or-other anyway, no matter who the official is.
Remember, Carol Anne Chenard has been in the middle of multiple Voyageurs Cup games over the past few years (including the final match of 2009, the infamous "Miracle in Montreal") without significant incident that I can call to mind. I can only imagine we'll be seeing her again during this year's Canadian championships... and I would hope that her presence will be as unremarkable as that of any other official (since, as is often said, a referee is doing their job most effectively when you hardly notice that they're there).
So... does Gray's firing ultimately change anything?
Not really. While his one bit of supposedly-off-air jocularity got the most play, it is undoubtedly not an isolated incident. He has almost certainly held those beliefs for a long time, and will continue to do so. Similarly, there are unquestionably plenty of other knuckle-draggers ensconced in world soccer -- hell, Sepp Blatter himself once idiotically suggested that female players wear tighter shorts to help increase the sport's popularity.
What seems second nature to Gray and his ilk -- prejudging another person's capabilities at a given task based on an intrinsic characteristic such as gender -- is, I'd think, anathema to those of us in a younger generation. So attitudinal adjustments within soccer will, much like many things, just take time.
If you're keeping track, though, all reports I've heard about the game in which Massey was AR suggest her calls were generally spot-on... including those tricky offside calls.
That's it for this week. Send your questions to canadiansoccerguys@gmail.com, and your query may turn up in the next edition of Don't Fight The Laws.