Risk of a Referee

Anyone who has ever performed or competed knows the stress and pressure that one feels before a performance or a game. Nervousness takes over just before the start. We as coaches or spectators feel empathy for those nervous athletes just about to compete, yet no one ever even thinks about what the officiator or referee is feeling.
Referee's are probably under more pressure than any performer on stage or athlete on the field, especially the referees of soccer matches. World-wide, soccer, or "football," is the the most popular sport with perhaps the most passionate fans and followers. As a referee, you already know that every call you make will upset one side or the other, yet you still have to make the critical call to control the game with little time and under tremendous pressure. It is a decision made on the spot in front of stadiums full of riotous fans.
If you don't believe that that is a lot of pressure, consider the consequences. A couple years ago in Toronto, Canada, a riot broke out as a mother of a Under 8 boy's soccer player attacked a referee because she disagreed with a call that was made. Just a few weeks ago, a referee was attacked after sending off a player with a second yellow card offense during a game between Bulgaria's Slavia Sofia and Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. In 2005, a player was put in prison for the attack on a referee after being given a red card. According to Daniel Miletic from The Age, the referee "suffered a broken cheekbone and nose and a sunken right eye socket."
The worst however was an incident in a soccer game in Maryland in August 2002 where an ejected player stabbed the referee. According to Hyattsville police, a man was charged with attempted first-degree murder for an attack on the soccer referee. The attack occurred minutes after the man had been ejected from a "non-sanctioned adult league" game. Doctors informed police that had the knife been slightly longer, the victim would not have survived.
The National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) receives more that 100 reports annually involving physical contact between coaches, fans, athletes and officials.
With such risks as their own personal safety involved in a game, referee's face an incredible amount of pressure. Often times they are forced to make a decision which is impossible to make. So much is expected of them while little of what they do is appreciated.
We talk a lot about what is fair in the sport of soccer and how unfair it was for Ireland. Yet, what we fail to realize is that is was just as unfair for the referees who were expected to make the fair call while not being in a position to do so because they couldn't see what actually happened. With video replay, referees will be capable of make fair calls in those critical game changing moments.
With all the pressure and risks involved, referees can use all the help they can get.