An interesting article on the referee Abraham Klein was recently published in The Guardian, a British newspaper. You can read it here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/b...-klein-referee
We found this article be very revealing about the politics (that we always knew about anyway!) that go into the selection of referees for World Cups and for matches during those tournaments. The article also included accounts of the strenuous efforts Klein went to in order to keep fit, back in the days without personal trainers and all the other high-tech equipment, monitoring and supervision that present day top-level referees enjoy.
We later got to see Mr. Klein quite frequently as he came over here for the Dallas Cup tournament for several years in the early 1980s and I can say that I can count him as a colleague and friend. Although he did not referee the World Cup final, not many referees can match his achievements of being selected for three World Cups and two Olympics, and for being appointed to “marquee” matches in those competitions. Brazil v. England and Brazil v. Italy are matches that any FIFA referee would consider plum appointments. These are especially exceptional achievements for a referee who was not from one of the major soccer nations.
[Incidentally the Brazil v Italy in 1982 match featured the Italian defender Gentile, one of the old-fashioned hard men of the game. We actually produced a home-made video-tape to illustrate the concept of “Persistent Infringement” showing a series of fouls by Gentile in this and other matches. The games were broadcast only in Spanish that year from a Mexican TV station, and I can still hear the commentator repeatedly stating “otro falta de Gentile.” But he was never cautioned for PI. ]
We enjoyed reading the article but we find this sentence especially ironic: “Klein did not appear in Graham Poll's list of the 50 greatest referees of all time, a list that includes – and you'll like this – Graham Poll.” [N.B. Mr. Poll modestly rated himself at number 43.] Later in the article Klein is quoted as follows: “Some very, very famous referees – I don't want to tell you their names – made some bad decisions in World Cup games.”
I wonder to whom he was referring? Form your own conclusion!
Webb!
[From Ed: Webb didn't make any mistakes in Law, unlike one other referee in particular!]
Posted by: Jeff | March 29, 2012 at 03:52 PM
Ed, Thank you for this story and the link to the Guardian story. In 1998 a very good friend of mine was going for his National Badge. He was an excellent referee. He told me about a book that he was reading titled " A Referee's Referee". He said it was about a referee he admired. I asked him if I could read it. When I got the book I had an idea for a gift for my friend as a momento of his upcoming achievement (National Badge). I would find out how to contact the author and have him sign it. Make a long story short. I found out that the author lived in Israel. I found his phone number and called him! He was the nicest man. I told him my idea, and he said" absolutely please send it and he would write in it". I sent it along with enough shekels to pay for the postage back. In a week I received the book back with very nice words wishing my friend the "best in refereeing". He also sent back my shekels! He's a very gracious man. One reason I think my friend could relate to Mr Klein was that my frend was short like Mr. Klein. BUT what a great referee my friend was!! Just like Mr Klein, my friend had stature and respect on the field. Thank you Ed for the memory.
Posted by: john Matthew | March 30, 2012 at 05:20 PM