Fender Ben-Der: Athlete and Referee Altercations on the Rise, Coaches Share Responsibility

Benjamin Lange
Staff Writer

As of late there have been a couple fights with officials during games that have been very controversial and caused great distress. One such event was when 2 football players from John Jay High School, Michael Moreno and Victor Rojas, were witnessed blindsiding a game official. It was later discovered that the two athletes had been instructed by assistant coach Mack Breed to attack the referee because he allegedly used racial slurs during the game. Both players had stated that they put their trust into Coach Breed and had only been doing what they were told. Breed is on paid leave and has not publicly commented on the situation whereas the game official has publicly denied using racial slurs through public statements made by his lawyer.

Another event that has stood out amongst the crowd was at a hockey game in Michigan between St. Mary’s College and Sault High. During the game, two players from St. Mary’s jumped one of the referees after he removed one their teammates from a small skirmish. Both players had been suspended for only two games which seemed a light punishment. But it was later discovered through a video on YouTube that the referee that had been trying to pull the player out of the skirmish had punched the player. The other two players witnessed this and then began to pummel the referee shortly afterwards.

Overall, the tension between game officials and players is only increasing in frequency and intensity. Due to the high stakes of a players life or the stakes of winning a game, players may grow very uneasy if they do not agree with the actions of an official. To further prevent these situations from happening, there must be a boundary of physical contact between players and game officials for both the players and the officials who make decisions that they are not allowed to cross. For instance if there is a skirmish in a sport, there should be specific officials who deal with athletes. Sports can be very dangerous and even fatal should a wrong decision be made, but with the necessary precautions, these situations can be avoided.