referees Page 7 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

High School Ref Who Walked Out Over Anthem Protests Worries About Babies Disrespecting Flag, Had Racist Facebook Posts
Two New Jersey high school refs—Ernie Lunardelli and his son, Anthony Lunardelli—walked off the field on Friday night in Middlesex County because four players from Monroe HS knelt during the national anthem. Ernie Lunardelli told NJ.com he’d informed superiors he would not officiate any game where ...

Raiders Win In Wild Finish That Everybody Screwed Up
Oakland topped Kansas City tonight in yet another improbably entertaining Thursday night game, though one that had a finish marred (to some) or spiced up (to others) by errors committed by, in order, the officials, the Raiders, the Chiefs, and the Chiefs again:...

Bad Fan Beans Referee With Fountain Drink Cup
As is sadly typical of small-time soccer leagues, last night an MLS referee was on the receiving end of some physical abuse by a fan. One idiot in the stands at the Atlanta United-Minnesota United match decided to chuck their cup of water at the ref, dinging him right on the shoulder:...

All Soccer In Uruguay Suspended After Refs Savagely Beaten During Youth Match
This past Saturday, towards the end of a U-19 match between Uruguayan clubs Platense and Basáñez, two referees were attacked by a group of around 20 spectators and players. In response to this act of violence and others like it, the Uruguayan soccer federation decided to suspend all play throughout ...

Report: NFL Line Judge Under Investigation For Domestic Violence
NFL line judge and former VP of Officiating Carl Johnson is reportedly under police investigation in Louisiana for an alleged pattern of domestic violence, according to TMZ....

FIFA Orders World Cup Qualifier To Be Replayed After Referee Banned For Life
Last November, South Africa beat Senegal 2-1 in a World Cup qualifying match, their only win through four qualifying games. However, a few months after the game, Joseph Lamptey, the referee in charge, was found guilty of “unlawfully influencing match results” and was subsequently banned for life. He...

Cristiano Ronaldo On Rejection Of Ban Appeal: "Injustices Will Never Bring Me Down"
Cristiano Ronaldo seems to think that everything bad that happens to Cristiano Ronaldo is proof of a vast worldwide conspiracy to besmirch the reputation of Cristiano Ronaldo. This explains why he would describe the Spanish tax authorities seeking to collect on some €15 million they believe he may h...

There's A Nationwide Shortage Of Youth Sports Referees, And It Could Get Worse
If you’ve ever seen a youth official get jeered by a crowd after a close call and thought, “Why does anyone want to be a ref?” you’re not alone. Across the country, high school athletic associations are getting more desperate as they try to recruit qualified officials for their sporting events. ...

Officials' Blunder Costs Nashville Game-Opening Goal
The Predators’ Colton Sissons scored just a minute into the second period of a 0-0 Stanley Cup Final Game 6, only for it to be declared no goal due to an early whistle from an official. Maybe Ted Leonsis is onto something? ...

The Warriors Now Have A 3-1 Lead But Awful Officiating Is Not To Blame
Friday night’s Game 4 was barely underway before the uneven performance of the officials took center stage. Here, for example, are some tweets from Mary Babers—who is Draymond Green’s mom:...

How Did Umpires Declare This A Home Run?
Rays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier’s defense has such a strong reputation that when he misplayed this fly ball in the first inning of Tampa Bay’s game Tuesday against the White Sox, umpires decided the ball must have struck one of Tropicana Field’s rings—and awarded batter Yolmer Sanchez a home run....

Badass Referee Ducks Disgruntled Player's Punch, Squares Up And Starts Swinging
We’ve seen too many instances of helpless referees getting punched, smacked, kicked, jumped, stomped out, and even killed by bad soccer men mad over some call or other. So it’s a nice change of pace seeing this referee, overseeing a match in Argentina’s Copa Santa Fe, fighting back for once....

Referee Awards Penalty For Handball By Player Who Wasn't In The Game
Thanks to this boneheaded play by Sporting CP’s reserve team player Budag Nasirov, it’s now certain that all handballs in the box are penalties, even if a player, like Nasirov at that moment, is not actually in the game....

Referee Barfs, Receives Red Card
Overcome by some kind of stomach bug, or maybe, as the wonderful Scottish commentator supposes, so offended by the poor quality of this weekend’s Dundee-Kilmarnock match, line judge Andrew McWilliam couldn’t resist the urge to puke, and began blowing chunks out there on the pitch. The head ref took ...

French Rugby Player Flattens Referee, Turns His Fury Towards Opponents
Benjamin Casty, the brother of French rugby star Remi, was officiating a French junior cup match between Toulouse and Saint-Esteve last weekend when he sent off an overly fired up Saint-Esteve player. Our man was not ready to leave the field, but he was prepared to pop Casty with a vicious right cro...

Flexible Soccer Referee Steals Show By Doing Splits To Dodge Ball
Who would’ve thought the most impressive feat of athleticism on display during this youth soccer game would come from the referee?...

NFL Referees Hate The Rules On Celebration Penalties, Too
Turns out that NFL referees dislike policing celebration as much as any reasonable person dislikes having to see celebration policed! ...

Dale Scott Immobilized, Taken Off Field On Stretcher After Taking Foul Tip To The Face
Dale Scott left the field in Toronto tonight on a stretcher as the 31-year veteran umpire took a foul tip directly to the face....
![NFL's Head Of Officiating Leaving To Become A TV Guy [Update]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/byidk7akdn0a9jswsnu3.jpg)
NFL's Head Of Officiating Leaving To Become A TV Guy [Update]
NFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino, whose job it is to publicly eat shit every time the the referees blow a call (he eats a lot of shit), is leaving the league for that sweet TV life....

Soccer Pundits Appropriately Bewildered By Referee's Penalty Boner
Newcastle United played Burton Albion yesterday in a match noteworthy only for one particularly galling error made by head referee Keith Stroud. These Sky Sports pundits discussing the mistake on air were just as bemused by the incident as the moment called for....