Football Club's Complaint: Change Of Referee

Chronicle (Levin), 8 July 1948, Page 4

Football Club's Complaint: Change Of Referee

Arising from the refereeing , of the Shannon-Hui 'Mai senior game at Manakau on June 26, a letter was " received at Tuesday night's meeting oL 'the management committee of the Horowhenua Rugby Union from the Shannon Football Ciub. ' - Tne' club . raised the foliowing points and asked the reasons foi chem: — (1) The . referee appointed had not, arrived ac the ground nor availed himself of transport by bus from Shannon, which stopped* at Levin; (2) No notification had been received by the club of any change of referee; (3) The referee who had substituted was the coach of the nome team and no approach had oeen made to the captain of the visiting team for his consent to the arrangement; an'd (4) That as the referee had been stripped and :eady to take the field 15 minutes before the game was scheduled to commence, "the arrangement1 had not the appearance of being a lastminute one. Advice that the referee appointed to the game was unavailable had not been received by the .official of the Referees' Association who made the appointments until Friday night, said the referees' delegate, Mr. C. E. Wiseley. Up to 11 a.m. on the Saturday it had not been possible to find a su£>stitute. At noon che referee who ultimately tQok ohe game had been telephoned and requested to officiate. He was unaware that it was the practice of the union to notify clubs of the referees appointed to games. Mr. F. G. Carrington, the referee originally apointed to the game, told the meeting that he had arranged for a message to be given o0 the. Shannon team on its arrival in Levin that he was unable to take the game and wouid not be travelling by bus to Manakau. "The club thinks that. the referee in this case, who is the coach of the Hui Mai team, should not have bee'n appointed 'to referee the gams," declared Mr. D. Cole. "The result of the match had a bearing on the championship, and for that reason a great deal was at stake. I think the Shannon Club is entitled to a replay of the match." As the referee who controlled the game, Mr. D. Oliver said the tone of the letter would suggest that he had been responsible for Shannon iosing the game, whereas in point of fact they had had every opportunity of winning it. They had lost it on 'their own play. „ Mr. Carrington: Mr. Oliver has no need to defend himself. There is no charge, again§t him. Mr.' Wiseley: He was appointed by the Referees' Association. Mr. Ouver: Do the Shannon team not accept my refereeing. Mr. Cole:' They object because you are the coach of the Hui Mai team. Mr. Oliver: The tone of the letter kul'gests that "I !wa's -the- cause' of Shannon losing the g&me. The fact that I coach the Hui Mai team had no effect on my refereeing. It was quite fair. \ Mr. Cole: We are not questioning Mr. Oliver's fairness. He was not suggesting that there was anything unfair in the game under discussion, remarked Mr. T. Winiata, but as a matter of policy he did not think that a man interested in a club should be- appointed to control a game in which that club was participating. Mr. O. T. Clunie supported this view. Mr. Oliver: I did not want to accept the game, but there was nobody eise and I did it simply to assist in the difficulty. I kept away from the Hui Mai team both before and during the match. Mr. Cole: "There is no reflection on you, Mr. Oliver, but we must stdp this coach-referee business. The secretary, Mr. J. E. Fullarton, mentioned that in point of fact a referee had been a spectator at the game in Levin that day, but it was due to a late forfeiture in one of the lower grade games set down to be. played. This was not known when the appointment had been made. A motion was then moved by Mr. Wiseley that the points raised by the club be replied to as follows: — (1) The referee flnally appointed had taken the game; (2) It had never been the practice of the Referees' Association to advise clubs of any changes of referees; (3) That while it was desirable that coaches should not be appointed as referees in matches where their' teams were playing, it had been found necessary, owing to the shortage of referees, to do so on some occasions; and (4) That the referee concerned had been notified at noon on the day of the match that he was to take it. This was seconded 'by Mr. C. Wilkinson and carried.