Evaluation of the factors that affect performances of active football referees in Turkey

The research was carried out for the purpose of evaluating the factors affecting performances of active football referees who function in different categories. The survey method was used in the research in order to describe an existing situation. The research group is composed of 108 referees (FIFA = 4, senior referees = 37, senior assistant referees = 50, state referees = 17) who actively officiated in the 2008/2009 football season depending on the Turkish Football Federation. The scale consisting of a total of 50 items: 42 questions aiming to evaluate the factors affecting performances of referees and 8 questions on personal knowledge of them, was used as a data collection tool in the research. The cronbach-alpha reliability coefficient of the developing scale was calculated as 0.78. Frequency (n) among the described statistical methods was used for the countable data, while the arithmetic average


INTRODUCTION
Among the concept of sports, a "referee" is a person who is on a field of play to enforce the application of rules.For the purpose of performing the best, he adheres to the neutrality prin-ciples and not the outraging rights of both teams in order to lead or guide a certain game or competition.However, "arbitration" is a task done in the roles should regard the following rules: i.They should know, apply and comment on the rules of a game well.ii.They should be physically fit and must have a physiological capacity.As the speed of play and footballers have increased nowadays, a referee should run as an athlete, in order not to lose even a moment of a match, to be at the right place, to make the best decision and to dominate a field preeminently (Collina, 2004).iii.They should form a very good identity on the field.iv.They should be brave, decisive and fair.v.They should have a constant awareness for deep prevision, perfect evaluation and sudden decisions.vi.They should take every competition equally serious and contact players and managers gentlemanly.
It is obvious that a referee is not a simple man.He is under a big surveillance, because his every behavior and words are tailed by the sports' public.He is the public's pulse and heart; as such, he should keep the value and trust given to him (EPRC, 1997).
For arbitration, the following referee staffs are determined by the Turkish Football Federation Central Board of Arbitration (CAC Prescription, 2010): 1. Arbitration for all (AA): This is assigned in school competitions, U-16 and competitions in its subcategories, and also in young and amateur league competitions provided that education and athletic tests are completed successfully.2. Male and female state arbitration (SA): This is assigned in official and private competitions at the state level.3. Regional assistant referee (RAR): He is assigned as an assistant and fourth referee in regional competitions; while he is assigned as a referee and an assistant referee in all amateur competitions.4. Regional referee (RR): He is assigned as a referee in regional competitions, while he is assigned as a fourth referee in Turkish Cup Level Competitions and in professional leagues competitions except the ones in the two top professional leagues. 5. National assistant referee (NAR): He is assigned as an assistant and fourth referee in Turkish Cup Level Competitions and in professional leagues competitions except the ones in the two top professional leagues, while he is assiged as a referee and an assistant referee in all amateur competitions.6.National referee (NR): He is assigned as a referee in Turkish Cup Level Competitions and in professional leagues competitions except the ones in the two top professional leagues; while he is assigned as a fourth referee in all leagues and as a referee and an assistant referee in all amateur competitions.7. Senior assistant referee (SAR): He is assigned as a referee and an assistant referee in amateur competitions; and as a referee in all competitions.8. Senior referee (SR): He is assigned as a referee in all competitions.9. FIFA assistant referees (FIFA AR): They are assigned as assistant referees in FIFA, UEFA and all other competitions.10.FIFA referees (FIFA R): They are assigned as referees in FIFA, UEFA and all other competitions.
In addition to developing fast the universal sports, by trailing the masses, football reveals the importance of evaluation of the factors that affect performances of referees (Tables 2 and 3).In the view of such information, the research has been carried out for the purpose of evaluating the factors affecting performances of referees.
As can be seen in Table 2, 36.1% of the referees who participated in the research are 23 to 27 years old, 28.7% are 28 to 32 years old, 23.1% are 33 to 37 years old and 12.0% are 18 to 22 years old.57.4% of the referees are graduates of undergraduate education, 16.7% are graduates of graduate education, 16.7% are graduates of two-year degree (V.H.S) and 9.3% are graduates of high school.58.3% have self-employments and 41.7% are officials in the distribution of their jobs.As the arbitration-starting age, 44.4% of the referees start working as referees when they are 19 to 22 years old, 34.3% when they are 23 to 26 years old and 21.3% when they are 18 years old and below, According to the active arbitration periods, 49.1% worked as referees for 3 to 6 years, 29.6% for 7 to 10 years and 21.3% for 11 to 14 years.
According to the arbitration categories, 54.6% worked as referees and 45.4% worked as assistant referees.According to the arbitration degrees, 46.3% are senior assistant referees, 34.3% are senior referees, 15.7% are state referees and 3.7% are FIFA referees.According to their marital statuses, 58.3% are single and 41.7% are married.
As can be seen in Table 3, the priorities of referees are to improve themselves ( X = 3.83); referees can not provide enough financial gain from arbitration ( X = 2.50); they do not approve vertical promotion criterion in arbitration ( X = 2.54); they do not have satisfactory time between their jobs and private lives while refereeing ( X =3.04); their arbitration careers please their families and dearest ones ( X = 3.66); they believe that they can take opportunities in arbitration community ( X = 3.68); they are proud of their arbitration careers ( X = 4.14); they do not hesitate to wear down due to the stress and pressure in football competitions ( X = 2.20); they are not affected with the situation, if senior management show that they support a definite team ( X = 4.02); they believe that information about their performances is elicited moderately and accurately ( X = 3.13); they find an opportunity of increasing their incomes in arbitration community ( X = 2.68); they partially agree with the fact that they are brought into safety precisely in football competitions ( X = 2.88); the number of the matches they lead during the season is not in a satisfactory level ( X = 2.53); the atmosphere in which they can do their job best is moderately provided ( X = 2.99); referees and assistant referees are selected slightly in conformity with the criteria ( X = 2.87); education programs that the referees participate in achieve their purposes to a certain extent ( X = 3.21); senior management provide a system through which they can reach improvements and innovations easily ( X = 3.53); managers first point a referee as a target in the event of failure ( X = 3.58); efforts that managers make in terms of safety measures is sufficient in part ( X = 3.18); club managers put pressure on managers with some measures ( X = 2.70); club managers never make unfair offers regarding matches ( X = 2.34); the purpose of ex-referees' being TV commentators goes beyond its purpose ( X = 4.10); TV programs that make comments about referees should examine only very argumentative positions ( X = 3.61); managers have big roles in spectators' aggressive behaviors ( X = 4.09); as football is the most watched game in media, wrongful criticisms are made about arbitration community ( X = 4.13); in order to keep its feeling of rivalry at a high level at football, media creates a negative point of view on referees ( X = 3.98); community's security is being damaged by emphasizing that some referees have positive or negative opinions towards a certain team in media ( X = 4.02); it is not accepted in the public opinion that referees can make mistakes ( X = 4.27); there is an evil-minded view in every decision of the four big teams (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor) in Turkey ( X = 4.10); referees are slightly under pressure while leading the four big teams (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor) matches in Turkey ( X = 3.22); a negative point of view of the four big teams (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor) in Turkey towards referees put displeasure into opposition ( X = 3.85); clubs lay a burden on referees in the event of failure ( X = 4.25); the identity of the teams we lead does not affect decisions of referees ( X = 2.51); footballers who try to deceive referees damage the atmosphere of the game ( X = 4.19); reaction of a footballer in discipline applications affect a game negatively ( X = 3.83); some footballers believe that referees are opinionated to them ( X = 3.41); a referee should take individual characteristics into account while making contact with a Karakus et al. 8217 footballer ( X = 3.71); insufficiency of a fair play concept increase objections against referees ( X = 4.02); spectators' pressure partially cause their psychological exhaustion ( X =2.73), spectator's reaction after a mischarge do not lead them to lose their controls ( X = 2.15); they are not affected negatively by swear and negative cheers of spectators during matches ( X = 2.25); and reaction of a spectator in critical positions does not affect their decisions ( X = 1.95) .

Study method and working group
In this study, the survey method was used for the purpose of representing the existing condition.The survey methods are the research approaches which aim to describe a situation that existed in the past or that exists the way it is in the present.Thus, a trial was made to describe the incident, individual, or object (that is, a subject of the research) as it is (Karasar, 2005).The research group is composed of 108 (Fifa = 4, senior referees = 37, senior assistant referees = 50, state referees = 17) referees who actively participated in the 2008/2009 football season depending on the Turkish Football Federation.

Data collection tools
Information about the subject has been obtained by scanning the resources and by applying the developed assessment instrument.The scale consisting of a total of 50 items: 42 questions aiming to evaluate the factors affecting performances of referees and 8 questions on personal knowledge of them, has been used as a data collection tool in the research.The applied scale has been developed by the researchers and has been prepared in a five point likert type.
While preparing the scale, creating item pool and applying the learned opinion, preliminary tests and reliability steps were followed.The cronbach-alpha reliability coefficient of the developing scale was calculated as 0.78.The formula of gap width = row width/the number of groups (Tekin, 1993) was used in creating the group scale.Accordingly, the frequency of observation and its limit values in the developed scale are given in Table 1.

Data analyses
Frequency (n) among the described statistical methods was used for the countable data and the arithmetic average ( X ) and standard deviation (SD) were used for the data whose percent values were measurable.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
It is concluded from the research carried out for evaluation of the factors affecting performances of   contribute to overcome these shortages.It was also determined that referees who participated in the research did not hesitate to get angry due to the stress and pressure in football competitions, although they were not affected with the situation.If the senior management showed that they support a definite team, they are partially under pressure while leading the matches of the four big clubs (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor).Referees' decisions are not affected by the identity of the team they lead, because spectators' pressure causes their psychological exhaustions from time to time.Spectators' reaction after a mischarge does not lead them to lose their controls, they are not affected negatively by swears and negative cheers of spectators, and so the reaction of a spectator in critical positions does not affect their decisions.In the workouts showing parallelism with our findings and which were carried out by Pepe et al. (1999), 84.6% of the referees were not affected negatively by swears and negative cheers of spectators; while in that of Efe et al. (2008), 77 of 91 referees that participated in the research were not affected by a spectator, 13 of them were sometimes affected, and 1 of them was usually affected by a spectator.In the same workout by Efe et al. (2008), 51 referees were not affected by the mistakes they make during a match, 39 of them were sometimes affected, and 1 of them was usually affected by his mistakes.More so, 50 referees were not affected by their seniors, 34 of them were sometimes affected, and 7 of them were usually affected by their seniors.Moreover, in the research carried out by Eygu (2008), referees approved the statement, "I am affected by negative cheers of spectators" in the ratio of X = 1.78 and the statement "I am affected by the objections and pressure done loudly and as a whole", in the ratio of X = 1.81.
When the findings given earlier are evaluated, it is possible to say that referees are not generally affected by the statements of football clubs and senior management and pressure of spectators psychologically.However, the fact that they are slightly under pressure while leading the matches of four big teams may be characterized with the revelation of the truth which is known but not uttered by everyone (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor).Another truth revealed by these findings contrary to general belief (media, spectator, sports commentator, etc.) is: they are not affected by the pressure of spectators after wrong decisions of referees, they do not lose their controls in the arena, their decisions are not affected by reactions of spectators in critical positions and they are not affected by swears and negative cheers during a match.According to the research findings, contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to say that referees perform their duties quite professionally.
Referees that participated in the research commented that their security was provided precisely in football competitions, due to the necessary atmosphere provided moderately for them to carry out their duties ideally.However, the efforts that managers make in terms of safety measures were much sufficient.
As we know, "Law no.5149 which is related to prevention of violence and disordinance in sports competitions" was introduced in 2004.According to the law, any arrangement regarding security and health in playfields belonged to the host club (law no.5149, article 4).Also, according to the law, external safety of playfields was provided by the general law-enforcement officer, and internal safety was provided by private security unities and field executives formed by sports' clubs (Law no.5149, article 6).
When the findings given earlier were evaluated, it was required that the authorization of buying private security service given to clubs should be made good use of, and in particular, internal security should be provided by specialists of this field.It is believed that safety of referees will be better provided by considering these points.
It is determined that referees participating in the research achieved their purposes partially in education programs that they participated in, and that senior management provided a system which will ensure referees to reach innovations and improvements.When these findings were evaluated, a consideration was made that the federation should reevaluate education programs (both in form and substance) that referees participated in and should be attentive to the selection of academic members who participated in these programs, in that they should be people who can bring new approaches to learning and teaching activities.
In the research: "Analysis of active referees and expectation levels", which was carried out by Kayisoglu et al. (2010) and which showed parallelism with our findings, it was determined that in the analysis of referees' views about instructors, they supported the view that they recognized the individual differences of referees and planned their teaching styles with the knowledge of this fact at a low level and they used different learning and teaching methods in education seminars at midlevel.In the analysis of referees' views about the training environment, they approve the opinion that building and facilities are sufficient in terms of education at a low level; whereas in the analysis of referees' views about planning of education seminars, they also approve the idea that Karakus et al. 8221 the different skills and learning levels of "referees" are taken into account while preparing and conducting education seminar and different assessment tools are used in order to determine the needs of referees while preparing the program at a low level.By the referees' participation in the research, it is stated that the purpose of ex-referees becoming TV commentators is going beyond its purpose.TV programs that make comments about referees should examine only very argumentative positions, as football is the most watched game in the media.Wrongful criticisms are made about the arbitration community, in order to keep its feeling of rivalry at a high level in the football media, which creates a negative point of view on referees.The community's security is being damaged by emphasizing that some referees have positive or negative opinions towards a certain team in the media; however, it is not accepted in the public opinion that referees can make mistakes.In the research carried out by Dogan et al. (2004), the problems about the media that were revealed by referees and which were emphasized in the foregoing were also uttered by similar professional footballers.35.0% of professional footballers who participated in the research of Dogan et al. (2004) suggested that the content of sports programs on TV was indifferent, 23.0% of them suggested that it was insufficient, and 12.0% of them stated that it was bad.More so, 34.0% of the footballers stated that the comments made after a match were accusatory, 22.0% of them think that the comments were not worth being taken into consideration, and 22.0% of them stated that the comments were prejudiced and sided.
When these findings are evaluated, we can say that referees who function actively are disturbed with publications of media and comments of ex-referees.As it is known, publications of media also take a place in the factors causing spectators to tend towards violence in the researches (Caglayan, 2003;Bahadir, 2006;Kurtic, 2006;Mirioglu, 2007;Peker, 2007;Var, 2008).As it is stated by referees as well, it is considered that pressure against referees can be prevented only by the media's transmission of sports' event neutrally to spectators.Referees participating in the research have stated that footballers who try to deceive referees damage the atmosphere of a game, in that the reaction of a footballer in discipline applications affects a game negatively.Some footballers believe that referees are opinionated to them, so a referee should take individual characteristics into account while making contact with a footballer.Moreover, insufficiency of a fair play concept increases objections against referees.In the research carried out by Tekin et al. (2005) it was found that 37.1% of referees answered "no" to the question: "Do footballer provide enough support in administration of a match?" and 51.5% of them responded "sometimes" to this question.These findings show consistency with our research findings.
When these findings are evaluated, we can say that a match is affected especially by negative attitudes of footballers.Within this scope, in order not to allow bad events to happen during a competition, there are important duties that are parts of not only referees and spectators, but also footballers.The concept of love, respect and fair play which are especially emphasized constantly by FIFA and UEFA should be infused into individuals beginning from young ages without ignoring moral values of the society.
Referees participating in the research stated that managers first point to a referee as a target in the event of failure, club managers partially put pressure on referees, club managers do not make unfair offers regarding matches, there is an evil-minded view in every decision according to the four big clubs (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor), and clubs lay a burden on referees in the event of failure.
When these findings were evaluated, the club managers of the four big teams especially, were told to be more attentive to their statements in media, because in the researches carried out about violence (Kurtic, 2006;Bahadir, 2006) statements of club managers were also said to be among the factors causing spectators to tend towards violence.Making a statement and announcement to the visual or printed media by sport club presidents and managers, the way that they insult and seduce referees, proponents or opponents and provoke proponents is forbidden in "law no.5149, related to Prevention of Violence and Disordinance in Sports Competitions which is introduced in 2004 (law no.5149, article 15)".Within the scope of the rule, although it is observed that managers are more attentive than before, it is seen that sometimes they do not pay attention.A pleasing development is that club managers do not make a proposal about rigged game claims which take place in the media time to time to referees by managers.In the research carried out by Eygu (2008), it is found that referees approve the idea that "I am affected positively by consistent attitudes of managers before competitions" at a level of ( X = 3.67).

Conclusion
According to the results of the research carried out for evaluation of performances of active football referees functioning in different categories, it is possible to say that: 1.Although the results, such as the facts that referees have positive opinions about their professions, their families support them due to their professions and refereeing does not constitute a very big impediment for their private lives, have been obtained, related authorities should be more attentive to referee incomes.

Turkish Football Federation Central Arbitration
Committee should perform bright administration and take performance criteria of referees into account in promotions and appointments.3. Referees are generally not affected by the statements of football club managers and senior management, and the pressure of spectators psychologically, but they are slightly under pressure while leading matches of the four big clubs in Turkey (Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Besiktas and Trabzonspor).Moreover, contrary to the popular opinion (media, spectator, sports commentators, etc.), referees do their jobs quite professionally (that is, they are not affected by the pressure of spectators and they do not lose their controls in a match).4. According to "law no.5149 related to the Prevention of Violence and Disordinance in Sports Competitions" which was introduced in 2004, a good use of authorization for buying private security service should be made and it is important that internal security of referees in particular should be provided by showing maximum effort and that this service is organized by the experts in this field.5.The Turkish Football Federation should reevaluate the contents of education programs (both in form and substance) that referees participate in.6. Referees that compose the research group and function actively are disturbed by publications of the media and comments of ex-referees.7. A match is affected negatively by negative attitudes of a footballer and there are important duties that are parts of not only the spectators and referees, but also the footballers in order not to allow bad events to happen during a competition.8. Club managers, especially managers of the four big clubs, should be more attentive to their statements in the media.

Table 1 .
Frequency of observation and limit values in the developed scale.

Table 2 .
Distribution of the referees in respect of their personal knowledge.
graduates of undergraduate programs, 16.7% are graduates of graduate programs, 16.7% are graduates of two-degree education and 9.3% are graduates of high school programs).It is considered that referees, generally having high education levels, will contribute to effective use of academical approach and rationality in their attitudes in the arena.Limitation of education to at least high schools and their equivalents by Football Federation in applications, while starting arbitration, may lead people whose educational backgrounds are high to gravitate

Table 3 .
Factors that affect performances of referees.