LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. The Referee at Sandon.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8824, 28 May 1907, Page 2

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

The Referee at Sandon.

Sir, —In the interest of our national sport permit me to express my disapproval of the unsportsmanlike action of a section of the onlookers who hooted the referee at the football match at Saudon on Saturday. That it is difficult at times in t.io excitement of a game for players to take an adverse decision kindly I admit. The referee has power to check players, and onlookers should have sufficient selfrespect and control over their feelings to make them abstain from any unworthy outbursts such as took place on Saturday. The New Zealand Rugby Uniou is doing all it possibly cau to purify the sport, and the worst element that they iiave to contend with is the barracking on the touch line. I have been on the Sandon ground many times and have never seen any such hostile demonstration before, although I think that in this case the referee was very much to blame. I know that the referee’s position is not always an enviable one and in most cases he is a much abused person. Still, when a man undertakes the position he should, above all things, be firm and impartial and should at least have sufficient knowledge of the game to enable him to give a correct ruling on the minor breaches of the rules. That was where the trouble began on Saturday. The referee had no control over the players, his decisions were inconsistent, and ho lost both the respect of the players and onlookers, with the result that the game degenerated into a scramble. If the authorities are uuablo to got capable referees, by all moans let them cancel the fixtures, as scenes such as these are unworthy of the name of sport. Thanking yon in anticipation, I am, vours etc., SPECTATOR.