Bulgaria Sacks Bad Referees

The performances of referees should be assessed on a regular basis and if they are not up to the required standard then they and their governing body should be sacked. There is no difference here to any other job, if you can't do the job properly you should be got rid of and replaced. The decisions referees make on the pitch have major consequences on football teams.

The Bulgarian football federation has fired the country's referee commission for the second time in 15 months, citing a string of mistakes from onfield officials during league and cup matches.

The Bulgarian Football Union decided to dismiss the commission late Monday and said it will appoint a new one in January. The seven-member body is responsible for the appointment of referees and assessing their performance.

The BFU also announced the indefinite suspension of two referees because of substandard performances in two recent Bulgarian Cup matches.

"Clearly, referees have committed errors that have affected the results of some matches,'' BFU president Borislav Mihailov said.

The performance of a Bulgarian referee was criticized in the Macedonian media despite the country winning 3-0 over Canada in a Nov. 14 friendly. He awarded two penalties to either team.

Bulgaria's referee commission was dismissed under similar circumstances in September 2008. Several months later, the head of that committee was charged with allegedly pressuring referees to fix the outcome of seven games in the country's top division.

The trial is still pending.

Source: www.sportsillustrated.cnn
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