Umpire, you can not be serious!

Sport is about sportspeople; either individuals or teams; striving to do their best . However it is often the umpires who seem to have been in the spotlight almost as much as the players.

It has to be said that today the poor umpire is in a no-win situation as he seeks to make an instant decision on one look at an incident which the TV pundit can then watch 15 times from every angle. Yet there have been incidents which seemed to go beyond the traditional range of controversy.

For example in the 1999 Cricket World Cup when Jacques Kallis hit the ball and Chris Adams claimed the catch, the umpire was not sure and the third umpire did not have conclusive evidence. Kallis was given not out. The normal ethic of the game would have seen the batsman take the fielder's word and walk. In a later Test when Mike Atherton was given not out to an appeal for a bat/pad catch, we had the undignified sight of first slip charging down the pitch to stand and stare at the umpire.

It is a great mistake, commonly made, for Christians not present or involved to pass judgement on a particular incident. But we are right to be concerned for the well being of sport in general if standards decline. When players routinely try to trick one another or influence officials (thinking now beyond cricket to querying line calls in tennis, diving in football etc), and they then refuse to accept the decisions of umpires/referees, eventually you reach the point in which the game is rendered unplayable.

How is the Christian to deal with these flashpoints? One relevant Scripture is 'Love your neighbour as yourself' (Matthew 22:39), and another is Romans 12:18, 'If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.'

How does this work out in practice? The Christian is not required to be a doormat. There is a place for expressing an opinion to the officials, for standing up to an opponent who is trying it on or pushing the officials to the limit. How this is done will depend on the laws and ethos of each sport, but the Christian must always respect both his opponents and the officials.

It is not easy to work out our salvation in the crucible of competitive sport. However, if we believe that sport is part of God's creation, we must play to the best of our ability, but maintain an attitude to team-mates, opponents and officials which will please God.

Stuart Weir
General Secretary, Christians in Sport

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