Soccer referee creates Facebook page to explain on-field decisions
Swedish referee Mohammed Al-Hakim started the page in July aiming to increase understanding of his rulings.
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1 min read
Soccer referees don't have an easy job. You must be fit, quick to react and confident in what you call on the pitch, and one team's fans will be upset regardless of what is called.
Swedish referee Mohammed Al-Hakim has decided to provide some insight for fans of the game via a Facebook page where he explains his rulings, according to The Guardian.
He launched the page admitting to have missed a call that should have been a penalty kick in a clash between IFK Norrkoping and AIK.
"I believe in openness and dialogue," Al-Hakim told Fotbollskanalen. "The main idea is that I want to create interest [in our occupation] and I think the football family can gain from getting a better insight and understanding of a referee's situation.
"I also want the page to inspire more people to become referees, which is an important part of football. I want to show my side of officiating and want to balance the picture [there is of us] in the media. I want to increase the accessibility in the football family."
Here is what he said about a missed penalty kick call.
"I should have given a penalty [in that game]," he said. "Full stop. Now I have seen what you surely have seen already. I’ve seen the replays a few times and looked at stills and different angles. Because what it is about for me, is that I want to learn something and try to understand why I did what I did. I will never be right all the time but it is important to minimize the mistakes and make sure that I am right in the important moments."
So far, the page is a success. It would be awesome to see other refs in any sport start to do this. But, you know that will come with having to weed out scores of negative, nasty comments.
"I have got a lot of positive feedback," the ref said. "Of course there are some negative voices but the majority has been very positive."
