By TERRY MADDAFORD
Soccer players are the big losers in the sporting judicial stakes.
But after Monday's ruling which allowed All Black hopeful Justin Marshall to retain his playing ticket, there is a strong feeling that New Zealand's national game should also be under the microscope.
A check of major winter sporting codes shows match officials and penalties meaning different things to different sports.
In soccer, the referee is, in almost every case, judge and jury. The player has few rights compared with, say, rugby league where he is given every chance to defend charges in front of a judicial body.
Soccer's governing body, Fifa, maintains that match officials - the referee and linesmen (or, as they now prefer, referee's assistants) - are all-powerful.
A player shown a red card and sent off will cop an automatic one or two-match suspension, depending on the severity of the offence in the referee's eyes. There is no appeal.
Only in a case of mistaken identity (rare) or if a player is given a suspension of three or more matches for a serious offence can a player seek a hearing.
Soccer players have long regarded this as heavy-handed and unfair.
In a recent national league match, a player was sent off for what could best be described as minor retaliation after being crudely hacked down.
The referee alleged the retaliation was "striking an opponent," and the player had to take a compulsory two-match suspension.
Upset, the player sought redress, but had no avenue open to him despite suggestions from the Human Rights Commission that he had every right to pursue the matter.
Other sports appear fairer, with basketball and netball - which have few dismissals in a normal season - allowing the option of a judicial hearing.
Hockey also allows a player to appear once he or she has reached the 12-point threshold - either from a red card (dismissal) or an accumulation of points from green or yellow cards.
Unlike other sports, hockey provides for players to be shown a card for spitting on the playing surface - a lead other codes could follow.
Rugby players can be called before a judicial hearing for a red card (dismissal) or after three yellow cards (or sinbinning offences) in a season.
The rugby league "plea bargaining" system has its critics, but is generally accepted as fair.
A player placed "on report" - a move favoured by referees these days rather than simply sending someone to the sinbin or out of the game - is told of the charge and given a choice.
He can plead guilty and accept a predetermined penalty, or plead not guilty and take the chance of incurring a greater penalty (or having the charge dismissed) at the judicial committee hearing.
Judicial concerns have long been part of sport.
All the players ask is that the playing field is level.
A sporting chance depends on which sport is giving it
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.