The Role of Assistant Referees

Sometime, last year, it was reported in the media that some Southern Region Football League (SRFL) games were played using less than three officiating referees and these were competitive.

Personally, I have witnessed a number of competitive football matches played with only the central referee, without assistant referees who are as crucial to the match as the central referee himself/herself.

Games, especially those involving clubs in Divisions, where they are supposed to qualify for places in the regional leagues, such as the SRFL have for many times been played with one official because they are not taken seriously, yet FIFA laws stipulate that every competitive football game has to have at least three officiating referees.

Under FIFA laws, the results of such games played with less than three officials are not eligible for standing for a competitive tournament. A minimum required number of officiating referees is three and a maximum of four per set.

However, in a friendly game, the central referee may be enough but still more it is advisable that assistant referees are there to mitigate the burden of only the central referee running across the field.

Assistant referees are very significant as long as strict observation of the whole progress of the game is concerned. Due to lack of concentration or because of being too hasty, mistakes in identification of undisciplined players may occur in the absence of assistant referees.

An assistant referee is one of several officials who assist the central referee in controlling the match. The fourth official assists administrative or other match related tasks as directed by the referee. A fifth official may be assigned as a replacement should one official be unable to continue.

Hence officiating a game using only the central referees subsequently removes all these tasks. However, it has to be acknowledged that assistant referees do not have the mandate to make binding decisions, but still they are an important lot to the game.

Without the assistant officials the officiating system is never complete, thereby rendering a competitive game unlawful. An assistant referee may help in player management during free kicks, as well as provision of visual assistance during penalty kicks.

The fourth official simply assists the referee at all times, and his duties are largely at the discretion of the referee. In usual practice, the fourth official assists the referee with administrative functions before, during and after the match; assessment of players’ equipment and ensuring substitutions are conducted in an orderly manner.

But, most football games, even those involving Super League Teams are played without this fourth official, and it is only the assistant referees who help in conducting substitutions.

In practice, the fourth official becomes a key member of the officiating team, who can watch the field and players and advise the central referee on situations that are going on out of his sight.

In the 2006 World Cup Final in Germany, the fourth official played a significant role when he informed the central referee of the actions of France’s Zinedine Zidane who head-butted Italy’s Marco Materrazi and the central referee finally sent the Italian off.

In a situation where an assistant referee is unable to continue officiating, the fourth official comes in. and in a situation where the referee is unable to continue, the fourth official replaces the referee directly, or the senior assistant referee replaces the referee, with the fourth official in turn taking an assistant’s position.

Therefore it is dangerous to start a match with only the central referee because there might be a lot of confusion should the referee get incapacitated. In most cases in Malawi, some competitive games are played without assistant referees because of insecurity.

Since it is usually the assistant referee who will raise the flag to signal that a player is off-side, it is the same assistant referee who is thrown at the receiving end of criticism both from fans and supporters.

This scares the referees away, especially when they know that a team involved in the game where they are supposed to officiate has violent fans. In other instances assistant referees fail to turn up for their duties because their financial welfares are not duly taken care of.

Refereeing is a job and referees need to be paid justifiably for the same. So, if they get peanuts or do not get paid at all altogether, their will to officiate will definitely be sapped.

There are a number of areas that need to be looked into so that referees get the attention they deserve. Competitive games need to be seriously considered in terms of officiating and this can be done by ensuring that there is enough security for referees during games and the welfare of referees is improved.

Otherwise we will have a rude awakening one day to be told that ten competitive games that have already been played do not stand to be competitive because they were played with one or two officiating referees.