Mirador deportivo: Con referees británicos

Mirador deportivo: Con referees británicos

Report on the begining of a new season with the novel debut of English referees

Affected by the string of notorious incidents in recent years, including the attempted hanging of referee O. Cossio in 1946, AFA hired nearly a dozen referees from Great Britain to bring a new level of professionalism to soccer in Argentina. According to the author, the arrival of English referees generated high and justified expectations among fans. He also weighs the pros and cons of their arrival. On the one hand, Argentine referees were just as knowledgable about the rules and regulations of the sport (what would these foreign officials offer that was new?). On the other hand, he writes, English referees brought (perhaps) greater experience in front of less hostile crowds, which might suggest that they could make correct decisions on the spot - without the hesitation that provoked ire among partisan fans. The most interesting aspect of this note is that the author recognizes that the primary benefit of hiring English referees is that fans would see them as neutral and therefore less likely to be swayed by personal biases or by the hostile crowds...but the author surmises that the root of such primitive behavior ("ese primitivismo irrefrenable") lies deeper, and that the presence of British referees will only hide such actions for a while.

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La Nación

04-08-1948

United States Library of Congress (Prints & Periodicals Division)

Microfilm

es

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