Column: The Role of Referees

All Sports Sep 26, 2016 Ella Fredericks -The Seattle Sounders faced off against the LA Galaxy on Sunday. Seattle came out strong and won 4-2.

Forward Jordan Morris made two goals, putting Seattle up 4-1. Morris also scored in the 77th off a deflection from the referee. In addition, an LA defender made an own-goal.

I don’t know if this win would have been possible without the extremely rare own-goal and the unfortunate referee-assisted goal. Referees have the final say, but even the best refs make the wrong calls sometimes.

One bad call can change the outcome of a game. Players are taught to accept it and to not argue. A referee’s fault should not reach beyond a few bad calls, like touching the…