We thought this morning we would look at some of the off pitch issues that affect playing of rugby matches in the UAE and Gulf. This weekend, there are several clubs playing matches. The Sharks AND Al Ain are holding internal club trials. Saracens are looking to travel for a friendly against Dragons, Harlequins are hoping to host Wasps and Sharjah are playing Exiles at the Wanderers. Of these games only 1 has an official referee from the Union. A sad consequence of timing means the referees society also has their preseason meeting this Friday and that clash is largely responsible. To run a game in the UAE and to have a referee you need to have the game sanctioned by the Union. Only UAE Society referees are covered by the UAERFs 3rd party liability insurance. However this does not mean you cannot have a non UAERRS referee doing the game. (even a sanctioned game). It just means they will not be covered by that insurance and they will not be representing the UAERRS. The Union and the referee society are the standard and quality control in these cases and rightly so. The referees have a development and training program, aiming to not only improve the level of referees in our games, but also to help our local referees achieve their potential at higher International levels. However, there is an element of control seemingly, that implies a game cannot and must not be refereed by an outside party other than the UAERRS and this is simply not the case. All they need to do is not wear UAERRS kit. The obvious evidence of this is Mini and Youth were a great many coaches have undertaken their level 1 refereeing course and are not members of the the UAERRS.They do not receive any support from UAERRS, or any additional training after their courses, but referee a vast chunk of the Gulfs rugby matches ! What the clubs have to be wary of is.. the above applies to M&Y games because they are sanctioned. Why a game is not sanctioned, is not what we are looking at here. The union could decide that the match is actually inappropriate on safety grounds. But it could be that the forms were not sent in on time. The UAERRS prefers 2 weeks notice, so they can be fair to their referees who all have jobs outside rugby. Another issue seeking clarity is the cover of the Medical Insurance on non sanctioned games ! Or is that only covered for games sanctioned by the Union? We are not sure and are looking into it. All these small questions have led to the unfortunate situation this weekend AND as like last season of a fundamental part of a rugby season running into difficulties.. The preseason matches and later on the friendly matches. Preseason is a very important part of clubs preparation and it is sad to witness the confusion surrounding the weekend. The mantra should always be.. find a way to play a game. And if 3 games dont go ahead this weekend, then that surely is something that everyone needs to sit down and chat about. OK this is where I have to add...This season my application for the UAERRS was rejected. (I personally dont remember that ever happening to anyone before) on the grounds of Article 15.b which states, we reserve the right not to accept you without telling you why. Needless to say, as I am NOT with the UAERRS any more please dont (from now on) take any mention of referees here on this page as a statement or indication of anything to do with them.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 06:30:48 +0000
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