This National Basketball League season has been marred by countless refereeing decisions that do not appear in person to be difficult decisions – but the referees have overlooked them.
Because of that, the line hasn’t changed. The refs are bad!
And that mantra will always stand because there is much credence to the idea that referees are messing up games than ever.
Whistles have been blown at poor officiating over the years and with more raw statistical evidence in addition to social media whining, it’s easier to find evidence of referees making bad calls – just as they always have.
You can always complain about the officiating after any game, whether it be in football, volleyball, netball et al. But the refereeing has been especially bad during the 2015 National Basketball League and perhaps reached a crescendo on Friday night when City Oilers took on KIU Titans in the second round match-up.
The refs weren’t good all game, I think both teams can admit as much. Returning Ben Komakech was hacked on the neck – a tackle that’s not permitted even in Rugby. It was obvious in real time but somehow Sendikadiwa and his partner Semanda let it pass.
Of course referees are human, and the human element is imperfect. There’s no special sauce that keeps those slip-ups from happening in any moment, big or small – but the officiating in this league has been so unsteady that a multitude of calls have been missed or the wrong ones have been made even the obvious in real time.
Steven Omony (L) complains to referee David Opolot during Falcons’ first round game against KIU Titans
I have not necessarily been supportive of referees but I have rather ignored (like many others) because I like to think I have an appreciation of the difficulty of the job referees do and of course like many Ugandans, we get used to things.
But at this rate, players, coaches, team managers and fans alike will all claim that it’s getting worse, and they’ll be saying the same thing over the years to come unless FUBA addresses the issue now.
We can’t sit, completely ignoring a monstrous problem hoping that things will change so long as we ignore it.
Clearly, FUBA needs to expand officiating personnel but for now, the quality of the available has got to be improved!
