In the aftermath of a weekend which saw two game-changing penalties incorrectly given in the Swansea/Stoke clash and the Chelsea/West Brom match and a red card worthy tackle not punished in the Sunderland/Man City game, is it now time that referees are made to wear head-cams during the matches so we can see what they've seen of an incident?
Referees are never made to answer the questions asked of them when a contentious decision has been made due to the risk of even more mass-scrutiny and abuse, but if they were wearing head-cams, then we could get a view of exactly what they'd seen of the incident and it would mean that we could perhaps sympathise with them - rather than dismiss their ability to referee at the top level.
There would also be an opportunity to have a match official watch the footage recorded by the referee's camera and offer an immediate alternate decision if he's seen something differently to the referee - with the latter having the final decision of course.
The use of a head-cam is certainly a better option than just blindly criticising referees when clearly it's their view of the incident that is leading them to see it differently from us. They don't have the luxury of close angle replays, they have to trust their initial judgement. Think how many of us have blindly shouted 'penalty!' at what we thought was a foul in the area, only to be shown otherwise in the replay.
Referees are human and aren't deliberately making mistakes. So why not help them? Why not get on their side and try to think up ideas to make it a fairer game for all? We need referees and the constant criticism is only discouraging rather than aiding the cause. Certainly food for thought.
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