COMMENT OF THE DAY #80 #11

ARBITRATION

A popular criticism of football referees is their lack of consistency People see two apparently identical incidents in a match. One referee awards a free-kick to Team A and another referee to Team B. But football is fast-moving + injected with high octane emotion. Arbitration is slow-moving with detached consideration. With arbitration, there is, therefore, less chance of inconsistency. But inconsistency there is. Arbitrators do not think alike. They can be mavericks. And yet arbitration requires predictability in its rulings.

Individual arbitrators cannot suddenly become stand out individuals who decide to make a point. Arbitration is not the time for ego. It is a time for teamwork where discretion issues are openly discussed and options explored.

This is an interesting point. On the one hand, arbitrators are selected for their trade knowledge + for their sound decision-making approach. They are also selected for their individual skills. But, and this is important, arbitrators are not selected to “rock the boat” or to “stir things up.

More in Episode 2 on 13 May 2021.