Officiating biasFootball/Rugby League

Presented by:Anthony Siokos (5835)Peter Cassar (5894)Neil Dunkley (5888)

PD212: Problem Based Learning 2Theme – Law and OfficiatingThe Australian College of Physical Education (ACPE)BSCA 03/07

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Overview

Challenge objective and definitionKey issues relating to biasExclusive interviewVisual examples for considerationVideo data discussion (protocols/analysis)Specific evidence in Rugby LeagueSummary… your take-home messages!

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Challenge objective

Identify the themes and influences associated with bias in officiating

Discuss reasons why bias occursProvide visual evidence of officiating bias in

football and rugby leagueCollect real data and extrapolate potential

focal points for statistical analysisTry and be objective with a subjective topic

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All referees are biased...

Definition

Bias1 v.t. Give a bias to (a bowl etc.); cause to swerve from a course (lit. & fig.); influence (usu. unfairly), inspire with prejudice.2 v.i. Incline to one side, swerve from the right course.

The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary:Thumb Index Edition (Brown, 1993, p.223)

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Prejudice

Some people decide they don’t like a person before they even know him or her. They decide they don’t like the person because of the way the person looks… Making up your mind about a person or a group of people before you know them is called prejudice (Matiella, 1991, p.68).

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Automatic biases

All officials need to acknowledge that bias exists in their decision-making to better understand themselves and their role

“If people do not know they possess implicit biases, they cannot accurately report them”.

“…implicit biases are linked to perceptions of anxiety or threat” (Rudman, Ashmore & Gary, 2001, pp.856-857).

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Understanding the role

In the simplest sense, the official is required to make decisions based on what they see

“What must be realised is that sport is essentially played in an isolated environment. Taking part in sport, one suspends some of the ordinary rules of life and instead accepts and follows the rules/laws of the game” (Pegg, 2005, p.27).

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Understanding the role (cont.)

“Thus, playing games is an artificial process, wherein the performers’ conduct is governed by rules/laws” (Pegg, 2005, p.27).

For example, stealing is not acceptable in normal life, but in team ball games it is a highly valued skill (Pegg, 2005).

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Figure 1. Brendan Santalab receives a caution from Matthew BreezeNote. From Australian FourFourTwo Photo Galleries, by Getty Images. 2007.Copyright 2007. Retrieved from http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/76739302_10%20[1024x768].jpg. Reprinted with permission.

Confusing labels with reality

“We see people or situations only long enough to assign a label or category, then we deal with the label instead of the reality, and that prevents clear thinking” (Schrank, 1995).

“We need labels to make quick judgments but relying on labels leads to stereotype and prejudice. We ignore individual differences, soon we see only the label… a label becomes a stereotype” (Schrank, 1995).

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Self-fulfilling prophecy

“When those stereotyped believe the label applied to them, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The label encourages behaviour that makes the label come true” (Schrank, 1995). A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when an expectancy

held by one person (Alex) about another person (Bill) influences Alex’s behaviour toward Bill, which in turn influences Bill’s behaviour in response, and Bill’s behaviour confirms the original expectancy held by Alex (Hamilton, 2005, p.537).

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We see what we believe

You’ve all heard of the old saying:“I’ll believe it, when I see it!”

It’s more like: “I’ll see it, when I believe it!”“We tend to see only what we already

believe, what confirms our expectations and prejudices. Another words, belief precedes perception” (Schrank, 1995).

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Confirmation bias

“We try to make new information fit so it agrees with what we already know. We ignore information that doesn’t agree with what we think we already know” (Schrank, 1995). “Confirmation bias is perhaps the best known and

most widely accepted notion of inferential error to come out of the literature on human reasoning” (Evans, 1989, as cited in Nickerson, 1998, p.175).

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Mood and heuristics

On the measure of bias... participants in a sad mood set a stricter criterion for judgment than those in a positive or neutral mood... sad participants showed superior ability to discriminate compared with happy participants. Sad moods may most sharply influence judgments by setting strict subjective criteria for judgment. The process underlying this finding reveals the possibility of a more careful, risk-averse decision strategy as a feature of sad moods (Park & Banaji, 2000, p.1020).

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Bias is in your memory…

“The selective influence of the judgment during the retrieval phase of a memory task biases recall in a fashion that produces a correlation between the judgment and the memory responses” (Hastie & Park, as cited in Hamilton, 2005, p.394).

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Exclusive interview

Interview conducted with FIFA, AFC and A-League referee – Matthew Breeze

FIFA Referees panel since 2001 Major appointments include:

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 2007 AFC Asian Cup Hyundai A-League Finals Series

NSW Police ProsecutorFigure 2. Matthew BreezeNote. From Australian FourFourTwo Photo Galleries, by Getty Images. 2007.Copyright 2007. Retrieved from http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/77843824_10%20[1024x768].jpg. Reprinted with permission.

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Ethnic stereotypingPower hungry (possibly), picks personalities

and relies on instincts (labelling)Reads newspapers and follows the mediaConfidence/consistency “most important”Culture of football (e.g. home team

advantage)Smell of the game (i.e. spirit)

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Key issues relating to bias

ImpartialityDecision-makingConsistencyInterpretationBehaviourNegative perceptions

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Match officials: Code of conduct

TheFA (2008), Respect Code of ConductWhen officiating I will:“Be honest and completely impartial at all

times, irrespective of the teams, players or team officials involved in the match”.

FIFA (2008), Refereeing Mission Statement“Football is a global sport and its rules must be

interpreted and applied with absolute consistency wherever the game is played”.

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Decision-making: Themes

High-order themes include:Crowd factors (e.g. home advantage)Accuracy/errorExperienceRegulations (e.g. Laws of the Game)OpinionConcentration/avoidance

(Lane, Nevill, Ahmad & Balmer, 2006, p.246)

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Decision-making: Themes (cont.)

Other themes include: Player reaction Control Professionalism Personality Personal life Environmental factors Crowd interaction

(Lane et al., 2006, p.246)

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex

“Recent theoretical explanations propose that the ventromedial frontal cortices play an important role in associating emotional experience with decision making in complex situations” (Adolphs, 1999, p.474).

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Figure 3. The Ventromedial (VM) prefrontal cortexNote. From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Research Factsheet, by National Institute of Mental Health. 2007. Copyright 2008. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet.shtml. Reprinted with permission.

The somatic marker hypothesis

“The function of… somatic states is to steer the decision making process toward those outcomes that are advantageous for the individual, based on the individual’s past experience with similar situations” (Adolphs, 1999, p.475).

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Consistency

Arguably the most debatable aspect when discussing “bias” is the word: consistency“We expect you to act in a uniform and

consistent way whether something happens in the first or the last minute, and regardless of whether the player has been cautioned or not”.

Key areas include physical contact, intent, intensity and the likelihood of a goal being scored (Sajn, as cited in Hart, 2008).

Home advantage

Referee bias in English Premier League football relating to goal differential…“For every 10,000-person increase in crowd

size, home advantage increased by approximately 0.086 goals”(R.H. Boyko, A.R. Boyko & M.G. Boyko, 2007, p.1188).

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Referee bias in EPL football

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Table 1. Consistency of home advantage over time for several metrics of EPL gamesNote. From “Referee bias contributes to home advantage in English Premiership football”, by R.H. Boyko, A.R. Boyko and M.G. Boyko, 2007, Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(11), p.1188. Copyright 2007 by Journal of Sports Sciences. Adapted with permission.

What the numbers don’t tell us…

In modern football, the expectation of the away team is not to lose (this is preconceived) This means the objective is to stop the other team from

scoring compared to actively trying to win the gameTherefore, the onus is on the home team to

take the game to their opponentThe away team then has, for example:

Less possession, is chasing the game and is more inclined to foul the home team to win the ball back

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Behaviour under social pressure

Research into Italian football has shown that social pressure affects the behaviour of referees “Referees punish away players more harshly and

home players more lightly when the games are played in front of spectators compared to when they are not. This indicates that referees exhibit home bias caused by social pressure from the spectators” (Pettersson-Lidbom & Priks, 2007, p.1).

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Negative perceptions of officials

“…athletes rated officials significantly less favourably on all domains of personality”.

“The discrepancies between officials’ self-report ratings and athletes’ perceptions of officials suggests that poor treatment of officials may be due to pervasive negative attitudes towards officials outside of the sporting context” (Balch & Scott, 2007, p.3).

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Law 12 – Fouls and misconduct

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Discussion: Video examples

Example 1 – Home advantageWhat does the “Law” state?Outcome was Multiple verbal warningsOutcome should have been or

Example 2 – Star player treatmentWhat does the “Law” state?Outcome was Outcome should have been

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Video analysis over 4 HAL matches

Type Total Average (per match)Fouls 109 / Home 57 v Away 52 27.25 / Home 14.25 Away 13

Fouls missed (not given by referee) 22 / Home 11 v Away 11 5.5 / Home 2.75 Away 2.75

Yellow cards 7 / Home 3 v Away 4 1.75 / Home 0.75 Away 1

Red cards 1 / Home 1 v Away 0 0.25 / Home 0.25 Away 0

Possible Yellow Card offences 6 / Home 5 v Away 1 1.5 / Home 1.25 Away 0.25

Possible Red Card offences 2 / Home 2 v Away 0 0.5 / Home 0.5 Away 0

Offside calls 12 / Home 6 v Away 6 3 / Home 1.5 Away 1.5

Penalties awarded 2 / Home 0 v Away 2 0.5 / Home 0 Away 0.5

Penalties not awarded 4 / Home 2 v Away 2 1 / Home 0.5 Away 0.5

Table 2. Matthew Breeze 4-match analysis (from Round 1-7 of the 2008/09 Hyundai A-League season)

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National Rugby League (NRL)

Case study on Ben Cummins First-grade referee since 2006 Officiating International &

Representative Matches include: Tri-Nations Junior Kangaroos Prime Minister’s XIII 2005 Premier League Grand

Final 2004 Jersey Flegg Grand Final

Full-time NRL referee & primary school teacher

Figure 4. Ben CumminsNote. From ABC News, by Adam Pretty (Getty Images). 2008.Copyright 2008. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200805/r246881_1009602.jpg. Reprinted with permission.

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Statistical data: Penalties awarded

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Game Round Home team Pen. Away team Pen.

1 11 NZ Warriors 12 Sydney Roosters 3

2 18 Sydney Roosters 7 Gold Coast Titans 6

3 25 (2007) South Sydney Rabbitohs 7 Sydney Roosters 9

4 22 Cronulla Sharks 12 South Sydney Rabbitohs 6

5 19 North Qld Cowboys 8 Brisbane Broncos 6

Table 3. Ben Cummins’ penalty count over 5 National Rugby League (NRL) matches

Pen. = Penalties awarded to

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What the “experts” think…

“In the post-match press conference Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart said he would’ve been fined by the NRL for criticising the officials had his team lost, such was the dismay he had with some of Cummins’ decisions” (National Rugby League, 2008).

“Frustration then turned to bewilderment for the bloodied Anasta when he was sin-binned himself with 90 seconds remaining after Cummins ruled he had retaliated in a scuffle with Jeremy Smith... Cummins had an ordinary match to say the least” (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2007).

Solutions to the problem…!

Officials should be appointed to more games, this will increase the likelihood of making better decisions “Referees specialise early and, as they develop, they engage in greater

volumes and types of training… actual performance is a significant activity for skill acquisition and refinement” (MacMahon, Helsen, Starkes & Weston, 2007, p.65).

An increase in personal contact may lead to better communication between officials, players and coaches

Further research and testing required Better funding of referee associations across the board

from the grassroots up. Promote awareness!

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Your take-home messages…

Bias exists in sportEvidence suggests that bias is largely

subconscious in thoughtConsistency is an ideological statementHumans make mistakes, referees are humanTraining to improve decision-making ability

involves match-experience with emphasis on personal communication

Additional material

This team presentation, along with accompanying material, can be

downloaded at:

www.acpe5835.net/bias

All content/material is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced or redistributed without expressed written permission from the author(s).

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We welcome your questions…Questions?

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Reference List – 1

Adolphs, R. (1999). Social cognition and the human brain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3(12), 469-479.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (2007). Roosters finish off in style. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/01/2021449.htm

Balch, M., & Scott, D. (2007). Contrary to popular belief, refs are people too! Personality and perceptions of officials. Journal of Sport Behavior, 30(1), 3-20.

Boyko, R.H., Boyko, A.R., & Boyko, M.G. (2007). Referee bias contributes to home advantage in English Premiership football. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(11), 1185-1194.

Brown, L. (Eds.) (1993). The new shorter Oxford English dictionary: Thumb index edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association. (2008). Refereeing: Mission and goals. Retrieved August 19, 2008, from http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/developing/refereeing/refereeingmission.html

Hamilton, D.L. (Eds.). (2005). Social cognition. New York, NY: Psychology Press.Hart, S. (2008). Refereeing a team game. In UEFA.com. Retrieved August 19, 2008, from

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=524288/newsid=653946.html

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Reference List – 2

Lane, A.M., Nevill, A.M., Ahmad, N.S., & Balmer, N. (2006). Soccer referee decision-making: ‘Shall I blow the whistle?’. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 5, 243-253.

MacMahon, C., Helsen, W.F., Starkes, J.L., & Weston, M. (2007). Decision-making skills and deliberate practice in elite association football referees. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(1), 65-78.

Matiella, A.C. (1991). Positively different: Creating a bias-free environment for young children. Santa Cruz, CA: ETR Associates.

National Rugby League. (2008). Sharks v Rabbitohs Review. Retrieved October 2, 2008, from http://www.nrl.com/Scores/TelstraPremiership/tabid/10240/default.aspx?roundid=690&matchid=5020&defaulttab=Match%20Report

Nickerson, R.S. (1998). Confirmation bias: A ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises. Review of General Psychology, 2(2), 175-220.

Park, J., & Banaji, M.R. (2000). Mood and heuristics: The influence of happy and sad states on sensitivity and bias in stereotyping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(6), 1005-1023.

Pegg, D. (2005). An introduction to sports officiating. Leeds: Coachwise Ltd.

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Reference List – 3

Pettersson-Lidbom, P., & Priks, M. (2007). Behavior under social pressure: Empty Italian stadiums and referee bias. Retrieved August 19, 2008, from http://people.su.se/~pepet/Socialpressure.pdf

Rudman, L.A., Ashmore, R.D., & Gary, M.L. (2001). “Unlearning” automatic biases: The malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(5), 856-868.

Schrank, J. (Writer). (1995). The unbiased mind: Four obstacles to clear thinking [Videorecording]. NSW: Science Press.

The Football Association. (2008). Respect code of conduct: Match officials. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/B9C7C428-5619-433E-834A-A5B12C9C0B9D/145334/Code_refsFINAL.pdf

Video footage courtesy of FOX SPORTS, Channel 9 and YouTube.

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Illustrations List – 1

ABC News. (2008). Ben Cummins. Retrieved August 10, 2008, from http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200805/r246881_1009602.jpg

Australian FourFourTwo. (2007). Brendan Santalab receives a caution from Matthew Breeze. Retrieved August 21, 2008, from http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/76739302_10%20[1024x768].jpg

Australian FourFourTwo. (2007). Matthew Breeze. Retrieved August 21, 2008, from http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/77843824_10%20[1024x768].jpg

National Institute of Mental Health. (2007). The Ventromedial (VM) prefrontal cortex. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet.shtml

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Illustrations List – 2

Title slide: Officiating biasAustralian FourFourTwo. (2008). Jets v Mariners pic special. Retrieved August 21, 2008, from

http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/82362714_10.jpgSlide 17: So who is Matthew Breeze?Australian FourFourTwo. (2008). Melbourne v Adelaide pic special. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from

http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/82788275_10.jpgSlide 31: Example 1Australian FourFourTwo. (2008). Adelaide v Phoenix pic special. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from

http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/82605117_10.jpgSlide 32: Example 2Australian FourFourTwo. (2008). Melbourne v Adelaide pic special. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from

http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/galleries/82788118_10.jpgSlide 33: Law 12 – Fouls and misconductFédération Internationale de Football Association. (2008). Laws of the game 2008/2009. Retrieved

September 19, 2008, from http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/federation/81/42/36/lotg%5fen%5f55753.pdf

Slide 43: Questions?Fotolia. (2006, February, 21). Retrieved September 19, 2008, from http://www.fotolia.com