Responsibility of Sports Officials

An official is either an umpire, referee, and or a judge for a sports event. These officials are handed many different responsibilities that they must follow on and off the field. If one or more of these are broken, measurements have to be taken. Sports officials have ways to prevent and handle these situations when faced with them.

There are many things that officials could be liable for. Anywhere from injuries to being on time to a game. The first liability is checking equipment. A player’s equipment helps to prevent injury, so it is very important that it is legal to be used. If a player has faulty equipment and gets hurt because of it, that could possibly fall on the official who was responsible for checking to make sure the equipment is up to par with regulations. This can be seen in the game off soccer. If a player has metal cleats, it is illegal but can also cause serious harm to the other team and even their own players. In this situation, it would be the sports official’s fault for not checking the players cleats before the game began. As well as dangerous, metal cleats are illegal. This can give an unfair advantage to that given team. The rules of illegal equipment and the official’s job to check them can be seen in many other sports.

Sports officials are responsible for so many things. Some are legal and some are just simple. The first legal responsibility of an official is that they work as independent contractors and are not employed by the school districts. They may not be covered under workmen’s compensation or liability insurance. The second responsibility is judgement calls. All calls are judgement calls and will not be overturned in court. Decision-making is very important with officials. They must make very difficult decisions while officiating. Sometimes, they may seem unfair or not be agreed with by the fans, coaches, or players. For example, when a player shows unsportsmanlike conduct and needs to be punished even though it may, in turn, cause that team to lose.

Officials could also be responsible for the obvious reasons. Such as, being on time for a game or event. For example, if there is a tournament going on and every game has a certain schedule and time limit, it is crucial that they show up on time and start the games on time. If they do not do this, they are risking games being cancelled or postponed. This could possibly cause the outcome of the tournament to be changed.

They need to call the game fairly. Favoritism can not happen because it causes so many problems. It can cause fights or arguments. It can cause the pace of the game to slow down. Favoritism can also get an official a trip to court because of bribery before the game. Officials, most importantly, need to understand the game that they are officiating. If they do not understand the game and basic rules, it could cause missed calls, wrong calls, or the officials themselves being put out of a job for not knowing the game.

In conclusion, the game depends on the sports official’s abilities to help create fair play. Responsibility and liabilities are ways sports officials understand and implement the rules. With this further understanding sports officials have ways to prevent and handle the ups and downs of the game.

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