In an intense tournament, stakes are high and the pressure is deafening, unfairness is like bait on a stick, dangling in front of you, and urging you to snap. Sports have an unfathomable way of subconsciously sparking a stubborn fire within you that no one can extinguish except for maybe the referees. They can be biased, appeared in many situations while doing so, and we should address this circumstance because it is not nearly as inconsequential as we believe.
Referees often express bias towards a particular organization or individual, which naturally gives the other party an unfair disadvantage.
No individual can be truly indifferent and calculating in their references. Therefore, an uproar arises within the audience and fans, planting a seed of frustration, and when something is planted, it will take root. On account of this, many individuals fail to acknowledge that referees cannot possibly hold no opinion. To hold no opinion is not to care, and to judge, we need to care.
An eagle’s eye in the storm, they need to be focused and nurturing. However, they should strive to be fair because everyone deserves a chance to win. Furthermore, referees are also given ultimate power, the will to bend the game, and the capacity to easily hand over a win with a blow of a whistle and a single raise of a hand. Power is corruptible; they influence you and allow you to do whatever you want. This is seemingly light; however, this can influence you to make rash decisions and bend the game entirely because the sense of power often overfloods our other senses. Revealing how powerful the referees are and why they can be so biased at times.
Individuals have regularly felt the unfairness of a game or the prejudice of a referee, and occasionally fail to realize how their judgment has impacted others.
Due to unfairness, many individuals lose significant tournaments and matches that are important for their future. Take the 2022 Figure skating Salt Lake Olympics incident for instance, often referred to as the ‘skategate.’ Figure skating Canadian pairs performed a flawless performance with no penalties and received a silver medal. While the Russian athletes who won gold had a major error, a fall.
It is later revealed that the main France foundation was pressuring the French judge to vote for the Russian pair. If this event was as inconsequential as we believe, it would have ended right there and now. However, the whole sports rating system developed into a points system and resulted in the firing of two referees and a reward of dual golden medals presented to both Canadian and Russian pairs. Therefore, the bad judgment of referees can result in a more impactful consequence than what we constantly recognize.
Truth to be told, conjecture and opinions can’t fully disappear from our conscience; therefore, perhaps there are situations when AI is essential.
To reduce the constant lack of fairness and accountability of these referees, perhaps robots should take their place. Robots possess so many skills that fit the role of refereeing and judging perfectly, they are not favoured for learning and academic education, however, criticism and potential can be achieved with a little prescience and a shift in perception.
First and foremost, AI can’t mentally feel anything, they have an emptiness, they follow coordinates and do what they are programmed to do, so no bias can possibly be present with complete indifference. Another thing is that they seldom make mistakes and see things humans typically miss. This increase in accuracy will profoundly benefit the fairness for the players and the games, resulting in a more balanced society.
Consequently, taking an act into acknowledging the prominent impacts unfair refereeing can cause will strengthen recognizing the problems that are classified as “small.” This acknowledges that referees can be biased towards a certain party and have been biased in many circumstances with witnesses. This should be solved by the appropriate use of AI and both individuals and referees should strive to avoid unfairness, because even if you throw a small stone in the sea, no one realizes how far it might sink.
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