When a referee/ assistant gets injured
It’s only taken me a week to get round to writing this!
came to mind after last Tuesdays game at Wigan.
with more officials at a game now than before (of course, it used to be just three now it’s even four or even five) why do they still seem to be asking if there is a qualified referee in the crowd to cover an injury?
I thought the job of the fourth official was to cover for one of the other three.Naturally , if the referee or one of his assistants sustain an entry, but can carry on in a limited capacity they can become the fourth official but in the case of one of them being unable to continue at all are we in the rather strange situation that the game could be abandoned ?
If that is the case, it seems odd as we managed for many years with three on the pitch and no 4th official
Comments
I think 4 is plenty.
In the unlikely event that the referee is injured, the vast majority of the time this will be a muscle or joint injury and there’ll just be a swap.
It was only that the referee took a nasty knock to the head and had to be assessed that a fan was called.
Considering how often this happens, a fifth official is really not required at every game.
The request to the crowd was to cover for the fourth official.
It does posted question, what would have happened if there hadn’t been any volunteer referees in the crowd?
Yes, that was the thrust of my query
just get a teen from the crowd
Able to quickly master an electronic device? Check
Able to sit with a headpiece in whilst managing an electronic device? ChecK
Able to ignore a frustrated adult moaning at them for the first three times it happens then on the fourth occasion replying “What? What?” whilst avoiding any eye contact before returning to the electric device whilst muttering “Whatever” Check