Solution to refereeing problems? Imports?

[Éanna]

Is bringing in referees from elsewhere (i.e. most likely Britain) a viable solution to the refereeing crisis which we are experiencing in this league?

[Éanna]

Personally I think it would be absolute lunacy. A number of reasons:
1. The biggest problem with refereeing in this league is that there aren't enough referees. Importing refs would most likely put people off even more.
2. Financially, it would be a huge cost to the clubs, and while bigger clubs might be able to take it, others wouldn't.
3. If you only bring them in for big games, then it leaves room for complaint from clubs who's games aren't considered important enough. And who decides what a big game is?
4. You would most likely not get the big/important refs from England(wherever), as they have enough games to do already. So would we be paying over the odds for refs who aren't much better than what we already have.

[Fair_play_boy]

It is vital to maintain fans' faith in the game by ensuring a high standard of referreeing. IMO it is not possible to achieve this at this time, and that there is a crisis of confidence as a result. So I am voting YES to this idea for many reasons.
1. The Dublin based refs are in the majority, and when they get things wrong (like refs do all the time) it causes people to suspect a fix. The perception of fairness is important.
2. Local refs are especially susceptible to pressure from local teams, some of it not so subtle. Shels practise this science with no apparent shame. They gang up on, and bully refs during games, making it really difficult for them to be impartial. This punishment of refs made some games a joke this season.
3. With imported refs, mistakes can be put down to human error. When this happens, we all should suffer equally on average over the course of a game / season.
4. Importing talent will probably raise the standard here, by showing the standards we should aspire to. I can still remember the really sound referreeing in the home tie against NEC.
5. If we take on this thing seriously, and we swap referrees occasionally with the UK, there is an outside chance that O'Neill will be disbarred from reffing after doing a game over there. :D

[inexile]

solution? there is no quick fix as far as i can see but there is improvement possible
try and get young people involved and get them trained at as young an age as possible
also why not pick the best 2 or 3 refs in the country and turn them into regional development officers on a full time basis they can then hold clinics with current junior and schoolboy referees and have "coaching courses" for want of a better expression even if the result of that is that they are making the same mistakes at least you will have consistency and thats progress, what is also needed is referees with a bit of personality like collina and frisk to show that a referee doesnt have to be the proverbial b*stard in black

[A face]

If every club (obviously not Dublin clubs) around the country put forward a candidate once a year to train and become a ref that would go some way to solving the problem.

If people dont step forward then there aint alot can be done about it !!

[pineapple stu]

No, don't be silly. The big assumption is that foreign refs are much better than Irish refs by definition, which seems to be based on watching foreign refs in European games and not in the lower leagues of their respective countries. Bring in a Conference ref and I doubt you'll notice the difference.

[BeerBaron69]

Only for big games with a lot at stake eg relegation/promotion/league

[MariborKev]

Is this not going to happen

I am sure I read somewhere a few months back that a Scotch ref had taken a game in Wales, and that the Welsh were due to ref a game in Scotland, with ourselves and the IL to join next season

Will see if I can dig out the article

[Jim Smith]

Madness.

"Look at us, we can't even referee our own matches"

The eL would be the laughing stock of European football...

[Pablo]

just dont have Dubs reffing Dubs. unless two dubs are involved.

If you know what i mean. it'd take a lot of the hard feelings out of the equation down here