There was a fury over England’s disallowed goal in the World Cup Round of Sixteen, back in 2010.

And a fury over Argentina’s offside goal.

And a fury over soft free kicks awarded to diving Italians.

All worthy of fury. If you follow England. Or Mexico. Or logic.

But I don’t believe the answer is video replays or another official on the pitch.
All that will do is make it easier to get the answer right.
It will let dispassion into the game.

And football needs passion.

It has skills. But, it is no more skilled than other sports – every sport has its specialised skills (anachronistic as some may be).

It has a sense of Us against Them. But, its supporters are no more parochial.

One thing football has going for it is emotion.
The fans do get more emotional – because of the human element. Because, in any competition – local, national, international – someone’s getting robbed by a bad refereeing decision.

Take away the emotion and it risks becoming just another code.

Allow stoppages – to consult video refereeing – and it’ll become a snore-fest.

The Round Ball Game is the world’s biggest game because it has an in-built passion generator.
They give their community something to get enraged about.

It’s something every other brand in the world could learn from.

Don’t try too hard to be perfect.

If you do, what will your customers get passionate about?

 

Originally published by Brand Clarity as “Why one referee is best”, in July 2010