Biased referees are a huge issue in sports and ruin the legitimacy of many sports. The sports that are the most affected by these referees are football and basketball, the reason for this is because that these are both huge team sports that require lot’s of physical contact. Throughout these sports there are thousands of examples of unfair referee calls but I have gathered some of the worst cases of biased referees in these sports. For instance in the NBA, I have witnessed how super stars are favored by referees when it comes to offensive and defensive fouls. The fouls often help the super stars like shai gilgeous-alexander get to the free throw line for easy points or to not foul out of the game. In October 2023 I went to watch the OKC Thunder play the Detroit Pistons at the bell center in Montreal and was amazed by the amount of fouls throughout the game. Players we’re getting fouled every second making this game less intense as I was hoping it would be. The referees in sports play a huge part in the outcome of the game and often get backlash from players and fans for their calls. I believe that referees sometimes decide the ends of games and can drastically impact the game!
There are a few different types of bias when it comes to sports many of which are seen in basketball, football, soccer etc…
- Home vs Away Bias
- Racial Bias
- Bias towards individual players or teams
These are the most common bias from referees in sports and is an issue today due to the entry of online betting even though it’s been around for a while. Betting has become something that sports rely on to fork in a lot of their income, referees have a lot of power over the amount of points scored in a game or the outcome of a players game overall.
In conclusion referees bias is an issue in sports today and we need to find ways to make the games outcomes fair without bias or questions.