Referees are essentially the backbone of sports matches. Without them, matches won't get a result and there wouldn't be a point in have matches. Lacking an authority figure can cause matters to go into chaos.
Despite being in an authoritative position, referees can still be abused and made fun of. For the most part, they don't get as much respect as they should get.
Bundee Aki, has been suspended for Ireland's first three Six Nations matches after being handed a four-game ban for "verbal abuse and disrespect" towards match officials in Connacht's United Rugby Championship (URC) loss to Leinster last weekend.
The 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year nominee was handed a six-week ban - two of which are suspended - after an independent disciplinary committee hearing found that he "engaged with the match official team after the game on several occasions".
Aki, 35, will miss Connacht's URC game against Zebre this weekend and Ireland's Six Nations fixtures against France, Italy and England.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) confirmed Aki hadn't travelled to Ireland's pre-tournament training camp in Portugal and said it would investigate the matter internally, with Ulster's Jude Postlethwaite called up to the squad.
Confirming the sanction, the URC said it recognised Aki's "full regret for his actions and was grateful for the approach he took towards the proceedings."
"However, given the player's previous disciplinary record (including incidents of a similar nature) and his lack of a plea in this case, the Independent Committee could not apply mitigation to the sanction," the statement added.
Ireland face France in Paris on 5 February before hosting Italy in Dublin on 14 February. They take on England at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium on 21 February before home games against Wales and Scotland on 6 and 14 March.
Two-time British and Irish Lions tourist Aki has won 68 caps for Ireland and has won three Six Nations titles, including Grand Slams in 2018 and 2023. Aki's suspension is the latest blow for Ireland head coach, Andy Farrell, in the build-up to the Six Nations.
Aki has been suspended for six games after being found guilty of "verbally abusing and disrespecting" match officials last Saturday night after Connacht’s URC game against Leinster, with the last two games suspended. As a result he will miss Ireland’s first three Six Nations games against France, Italy and England.
His actions have drawn criticism from the Irish Rugby Football Union. "The IRFU does not tolerate any form of disrespect shown towards match officials and does not condone actions that fall below the standards expected of players representing Irish rugby," read a statement.
He was an early temporary replacement in last weekend’s game and was aggrieved after he was struck in the face by Charlie Tector’s head in the first-half. With Ireland due to face defending champions France in Paris next Thursday, the uncapped Ulster centre, Jude Postlethwaite, has been added to the squad in Aki’s place.
Former international referee, Jaco Peyper, says that he felt pressured by stakeholders to achieve certain metrics in matches.
The South African officiated at the highest level, overseeing Super Rugby matches as well as Test fixtures in the Six Nations, Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup before hanging up his whistle in 2023 due to injury.
Peyper stated that during his career, he had to learn not to be pressured by tournament organisers and stakeholders to produce certain types of rugby matches. He said as much on an episode of the Rassie+ podcast during the discussion around the ball-in-play metric.
"I got it wrong so many times. When we started competitions, say Super Rugby or whatever tournament, there’s this pressure from the outside to have an entertaining tournament or to deliver a certain product," he explained.
"I remember we called it 'high octane', this is early 2010, 2012, whatever it was in Super Rugby. So then a referee feels the pressure to make the tournament like that instead of just applying the laws."
"Instead of just keeping it safe, keep it fair and apply the law the same to both teams. Yes, little things like we were really strict on the tackler that really assisted the game, get tacklers out of there that cleaned up the contest, but it’s not the referee’s job to make the game flow. It’s the player’s job."
He continued: "It’s the referee’s job to make sure it’s safe first, and then even-handed and then if it’s all going so well, then the referee can look at contributing. Often, I felt the pressure of trying to either open up or break the game open if it’s a stalemate."
Springboks assistant coach, Felix Jones, agreed that it’s not the match officials’ job to create a certain kind of product. "It should be a contest first," he said. "The flow must be an outcome of the contest that’s going on."
Peyper clarified that was what he experienced and other officials may not feel the same as he did.
"I can’t speak for others, but I’ve had these conversations with many, many experienced referees – flow is often not a good game because it’s so easy to keep the ball in hand for 30 phases, but it’s one-off rugby, one-off rugby, one-off rugby, where when it’s more dynamic and broken field, when you create these contests, and it’s a little bit more dynamic, then there’s no set defence then and it’s also different to referee," he said.
"But I certainly felt the pressure often and then you have to reset yourself after four weeks in the competition when you are inconsistent or you had a few high-impact moments, then you have to reset and understand that you have to get back to the basics. Get the contest right, get it safe, get it fair and then the players and the coaches can take it away."
Now SA Rugby’s national law advisor, Peyper, said that the officials were also marked on metrics like ball-in-play that were produced in matches that they oversaw. This meant that the referees would make decisions in order to look after the key performance indicators (KPIs) that they were evaluated on.
Junior rugby league referees, who can be as young as 13, are being threatened and copping verbal abuse, with families and team staff lashed for "appalling behaviour". In one instance, a Sunshine Coast junior rugby league referee had to be escorted to their car due to threatening behaviour from players and families.
In another incident, Rugby League Sunshine Coast said a referee was told "let's take this out to the car park" by staff members for a team of under 12s. Yet, another was shocked when a player called them a "f***ing r****d" and a fourth refused to referee some teams after consistent poor behaviour.
The league made the incidents public in a missive to all clubs and a post on social media.
Sunshine Coast Falcons chairperson, Ashley Robinson, said the behaviour was "embarrassing," particularly with officials and volunteers starting as teenagers. "For them to be treated poorly by players and parents is appalling because if there are no officials there is no game and a lot of these referees are young kids," he said.
"If you think you can do a better job, go do a referee's course and get involved because you wouldn't want to see that abuse happen to your own child."
Robinson said one of the problems was that parents were "living through their children" on the field. He said other parents and fans also had a role to play. "We are all responsible to speak out when we see someone doing the wrong thing," he said.
"If it is a player, [the referee] needs to stop the game, call the coach onto the field and tell them if they can't get their kids under control 'then I will'. If it's a parent they need to stop the game, go over to the sideline and actually single them out and say that they will not continue this game until this club sorts out whoever is misbehaving."
Robinson said in his decades in the sport it had always been hard to recruit officials and volunteers, and the bad behaviour only made it tougher.
The issue has led to referee strikes; some officials withdrawn for their own protection; teams expelled from competitions and some leagues refusing to provide referees for games. There are fears the treatment of officials at grassroots level could be causing some to leave the sport for good - and even from taking up the profession in the first place.
Examples of the vile verbal and physical abuse officials endure are being shared widely on social media - and in recent months several letters and posts from county football associations have gone viral, warning coaches, players and parents about their conduct.
I don't understand why officials tend to get the backlash of bad plays and calls. They are simply doing their jobs and trying to make accurate calls. It's almost impossible to get the correct call every time. Most calls can be classified as subjective since the referee can't see everything that goes on.
The outrageous behaviour that gets displaced on officials is ridiculous. Fans and others need to learn to take out their anger in a more constructive manner. As seen above, these kind of acts can have devasting effects on officials' psyche.
This is especially true of young ones. They are just learning their trade and are already getting targeted with bad behaviour. Before we know it, officiating may cease to exist as a result of the reactional behaviour.