Referee

A referee is the person of authority in a variety of sports who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on-the-fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known, in addition to referee, by a variety of other titles as well (often depending on the sport), including umpire, judge, arbiter, arbitrator, linesman, commissaire, timekeeper, touch judge or Technical Official (by the International Olympic Committee).

Origin

The term referee originated in association football. Originally the team captains would consult with each other in order to resolve any dispute on the pitch. Eventually this role was delegated to an umpire. Each team would bring their own partisan umpire allowing the team captains to concentrate on the game. Later, the referee, a third "neutral" official was added, this referee would be "referred to" if the umpires could not resolve a dispute. The referee did not take his place on the pitch until 1891, when the umpires became linesmen (now assistant referees). Today, in many amateur football matches, each side will still supply their own partisan assistant referees (still commonly called club linesmen) to assist the neutral referee appointed by the governing football association if one or both assistant referees are not provided. In this case, the role of the linesmen is limited to indicating out of play and cannot decide off side.

Referee (Queoff)

Referee is a public artwork by American artist Tom Queoff, located on the south entrance of the U.S. Cellular Arena, which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The 9 foot laminated marble sculpture depicts an abstracted referee with legs spread apart and arms raised.

Description

Tom Queoff's Referee is made of white laminated travertine marble which has been carved into the simplified figure of a referee. The referee stands with his legs out in an inverted "V" shape, and has both arms raised up and bent at the elbows. His face consists of a negative oval space. There are no inscriptions on the sculpture.

Historical information

Referee was funded through the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), a program that operated in Wisconsin from 1977 through 1981. The program's goal was to give university-trained artists the opportunity to create artworks, while finding them employment within their communities. Thirty Wisconsin artists participated in CETA during its short run. Tom Queoff joined the City of Milwaukee's CETA from 1977 to 1978. During this time he shared a studio with another sculptor, and worked on various art projects for the city. One of these projects was Referee. Since CETA could not afford to pay for an artist's materials, Queoff had the marble for the sculpture donated by the Milwaukee Marble Company. The marble was the remainders from the First Wisconsin Bank building's construction. The artist laminated the marble pieces together and then carved the sculpture out of this resulting material. Although the artwork sat in storage for some time, it was eventually placed on the south entrance of UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee.

Referee (futsal)

A referee controls matches in the sport of futsal, a variant of association football.

Refereeing

In high level matches, there are two on-field referees and an off-field official (similar to a fourth official in outdoor football). In matches of lower level, there may be fewer officials, with one or two on-field officials.

References