Referee vs Arbitrater

Recently, one of my High School soccer referee assignors sent out an email reminding everybody that "We get paid to ref, not to arbitrate, on the field."  He was trying to remind us to be careful when dealing out yellow cards, because since this was high school, there are harsh punishments for a coach/team if they accumulate too many yellows in a season.  While I understand the eventual point of his email, his line that "we get paid to ref, not to arbitrate..." struck a negative chord with me.

I am of the belief that soccer officials are in fact, arbiters.

First, a few key points.

1. In association football / soccer, the referee enforces the laws of the game, not the rules of the game.
2. The word for both referee and arbiter in French is arbitre (In Spanish it is árbitro)
3. The verb "to referee" is arbitrer.  The verb "to arbitrate" is also arbitrer

In French, the sporting definition of the word evolved from the official, legal version of the word.  My petit robert dictionary records the first use of arbitre 1213 and the first use of arbitrer in 1274.  The usage of these words in a sporting context started in 1933.

An arbitrator is defined as "a person chosen to decide a dispute or settle differences, especially one formally empowered to examine the facts and decide the issue."  Oftentimes, an arbitrator does this within a legal context.  Many of the people in civic society that we call 'judges' are in fact official arbitrators.  We see this a lot in small claims court.  Arbitrators in a civil capacity observe the situation (usually after the fact through testimonies), interpret the laws, and settle the dispute between two (or more) parties by applying those same laws.

Association football referees observe the situation, interpret the laws, and settle the dispute between the two or more players by applying those same laws.

The French understand that referee and arbitrator are one and the same thing, particularly in soccer.  The referee is more than a simple disciplinarian who administers the rules.  He or she is in fact a judge, interpreting all of the variables in one given situation, and then interpreting and applying a law (not a rule) to the situation.

I think what my assignor should have said was "We are not cops*, we are soccer referees"  We should judge the nuance and details of a situation, before handing out punishment.

I just wanted to get that rant off my chest.  Hopefully it made sense, and that you may have an opinion on the matter.




*No disrespect towards the police (one of my best friends is a police officer), but I wanted to find a job that is more clearly about enforcing laws (although they do interpret as well) and less about interpretation, which is the court's responsibility.