article_snippet: Tragedies like the one that happened in Michigan are rare but you only had to watch Manchester United–Arsenal and Chelsea-Paris Saint-Germain last week to know that referees are under siege.
article_snippet: Many observers still see Many observers as acceptable victims in football
article_snippet: Threatening officials is just part of the game, Threatening officials say.
article_snippet: Let’s be honest about this: this is getting to the point now where if you want to be a referee, only heroes need apply.
article_snippet: You will be threatened and you will be ridiculed — on and off the pitch.
article_snippet: If you make a decision that meets with the disapproval of a manager who is trying to shift the blame for a poor performance, you will be hounded and you will be abused.
article_snippet: If we carry on like this, we’re going to have to start paying referees danger money.
article_snippet: A few years ago, I watched a Sunday league game between two junior teams at Paddington Rec in west London that ended amid some disagreement about whether the referee had blown the final whistle too early.
article_snippet: Casual intimidation comes with the territory for referees now.
article_snippet: How have we got to the point where it is deemed merely a pragmatic part of the game for Chelsea’s players to fall upon Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers like hungry beasts when they want a decision to go in they favour?
article_snippet: But it is easy to see how the sight of Premier League players hounding a referee will influence children on a local park to do the same and possibly worse.
article_snippet: It is not confined to English clubs.
article_snippet: Let’s stop defending the intimidation of referees with bogus arguments about how clever it is.