Why can’t we have better Football refereeing? Part 2: It’s the system

This is the second of a three-part special report on The Passionate Fan about the state of Football refereeing in the Philippines. Part one can be read here.

When I started worked in advertising in 1995 we had a seminar on Total Quality Management as part of our training. One of the precepts of TQM is “when something goes wrong, blame the system, not the people.”

There is a system to Philippine football refereeing, and it is broken.

In Metro Manila two groups have traditionally supplied referees: the Rizal Football Association, and the National Capital Region Football Association. This being the Philippines, the two groups do not get along. Over the years their relationship has ranged from frosty to openly adversarial, and the squabbling has stunted the growth of refereeing.

RIFA has traditionally catered mostly to schools while the NCRFA handles mostly senior Football. But talented referees can't grow and be tested in higher levels of play because they might belong to the wrong camp.

What has emerged is a “referee lord system” says Miguel David, a former AFC and FIFA match official. Refereeing matches became a matter of who you knew or what group you were aligned with, and not because of performance.

“Now it doesn't matter if a ref is good or bad. If he is with a certain group, he gets to ref games.” says David. “The only way for refereeing to advance is to abolish the referee lord system and follow a system that is merit-based.”

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In other words, talented refs go up to work bigger matches and leagues, and underperforming refs go down to lesser games to gain more experience. Naturally the referees will be incentivized to work harder because the bigger games will offer bigger pay.

This meritocratic refereeing system should mirror a club pyramid, that also winnows the chaff from the wheat when it comes to players. That is barely present now. There still isn't enough Football being played in the Philippines. Without enough Football being played, there are not enough avenues for refs to gain the experience needed to get better.

People are often shocked to learn that there are 24 levels of senior Mens Football in England alone. That doesn't count youth leagues and women's play.

Atop the pyramid is the Premier League, and below that the second-tier Championship, then League One and League Two below it, and below that, the Nationwide Conference, and the South and North Conferences that feed it. Below that, dozens, maybe even hundreds of leagues at the local level.

As players rise up the food chain towards the top, the referees do the same, with the top officials called up to the better leagues, while refs who perform poorly drop down. This system guarantees excellent refereeing at the top level that matches the play there.

Now lets take a look at the Philippine Football “pyramid” for senior 11-a-side men's play. Right now the UFL division one is the de facto top tier, although there is also the PFF-Smart National Club Championship, which is a cup, not a league.

Below UFL 1 it is Division 2. Below that is the recreational Weekend Football League and its two tiers. Alongside it is the NCRFA third division that runs intermittently.

There is a senior league in Bacolod and the Aboitiz Cup in Cebu that has youth levels and an open level for men.

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There are leagues and cups for older youth, like UAAP, NCAA, Ang Liga, the Unigames, plus the U23 Suzuki Cup.

As far as I know, that's it, folks. For a nation of 100 million people, it's not a lot. And it's not enough to hone our referees to world-class standard.

Refs also don't get paid an wage that is commensurate to the difficulty of the job. One ref told me that some competitions give P2000 to the main referee per game, but less to the assistant refs, the fourth official, and the referee assessor, who reports on the performance of the crew. In other competitions, the pay scale is even less.

The result: “wala na kasing gusto maging referee” (nobody wants to be a referee) says Rey Ritaga, one of the more familiar faces among the referees in the Philippines. There just aren't enough people willing to take on the responsibility of refereeing Football games.

Ritaga has been a lightning rod for criticism for many years, but in truth, he is one of Asia's top officials in Futsal. He regularly officiates in Asian Futsal events.

But even Ritaga needs to moonlight as a PE teacher to help supplement his refereeing income. Many referees also coach, but FIFA frowns on the practice and prefers that refs only coach very young kids.

In a recent UFL competition I was told that a few referees simply threw up their tools and abandoned the league midway through the competition.

There are other problems that make it hard to be a good referee in the Philippines. Many referees are former players who only get into officiating once their playing days are over. This in itself is a problem.

“In Australia we have cadet referees as young as 15 years old who referee kid's games” says Graeme MacKinnon, the Aussie former Global coach. Refereeing takes practice. It simply can't be attained overnight. And just like a Football player, a ref should start young.

In part three I will outline possible solutions to advance refereeing in the country.

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.