When a player is shown a red card by a referee, emotions are often high. The player often leaves the field with a mixture of feelings including anger, resentment at what they may perceive as harsh treatment. They may even feel victimised or even confused and in disbelief.
One such incident and its unexpected aftermath proved life changing for Melbourne referee Hary Milas, when in 2008 he was refereeing at the Homeless World Cup staged in Melbourne. Refereeing a match between Russia and Croatia, Milas had to make a decision to send off a player from the Russian team for a rough tackle on an opponent. Milas, brought out the red card but instead of brandishing it, he chose to show it discreetly to the player (“almost like presenting a business card”), as respectfully as he could for an individual whom he knew had probably been dealt some poor cards in life. After the match the dismissed Russian player sought Milas out and to the ref’s surprise, the player thanked and hugged him for treating him with respect and dignity. Milas was humbled and moved to the point where he offered him his whistle as a memento of their meeting, which the Russian accepted. And so was born the ‘Whistle of Hope’, an award which Milas has given to a selected player who has shown respect to team mates and opponents, after each game at the eight subsequent Homeless World Cups he has officiated in since.
The Whistle of Hope has spread world-wide during the history of the Homeless World Cup and this year in September, Milas and the Whistle will head to Norway to participate in his 10th Homeless World Cup. There are even plans afoot to shoot a movie based on the Homeless World Cup, starring actor Colin Farrell, with plans to incorporate the Whistle of Hope award into the story line.
Back home in Melbourne, Milas, along with Australia’s Homeless World Cup team organiser, George Halkias, received a Victorian Sports award at a ceremony last Thursday at the Melbourne convention centre.
Milas became the first ever football referee to receive the Victorian Community Official of the Year award, in recognition of both his long services to Victorian football as a referee and also for volunteering his time and energy to support Charity and Community events such as the Homeless World Cup, of which he is now a member of the referees panel.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, Milas commented on receiving the award, “It was actually quite humbling as an official, to be recognised for the work that all officials do week in, week out. But for me, for football to be recognised in this award, I thought it was a great achievement. I feel we’re always battling the AFL and other codes as well. But it was nice to be recognised for the work that all officials do and also for the work I’ve completed with the Homeless World Cup.”
The 52-year-old ref is one of Australia’s most experienced and qualified referees, with 19 years of experience. As well as continuing to officiate in matches, Milas is an assessor, instructor and mentor to other referees. He’s seen all types of referees at different stages of their development. He believes, that the better referees are those able to communicate effectively by explaining decisions to players, talking to the players and try and understand their frustrations, and by using personality and humour as a way of dealing with tension on the park.
Milas says, ” When you see rough tackles, you go in, and there needs to be what we call,’ a public word’ by ways of broadcasting decisions. ‘That was not good enough, settle down, you’re swinging your arms or you’re going in a bit late’. People know that you’ve taken that action and they’re aware of it. OK, he’s seen it, he’s aware of it and he’s handling it. That’s the way of handling a situation where it might get out of control. A lot of referees don’t do that. ..I always hear comments from players, saying you can talk to Hary. Once upon a time you couldn’t talk to me. I was that weekend warrior as most people are when they start ( He’s the guy that would look for any opportunity to use a card or admonish someone- they give a decision and they don’t want to talk to the player about the decision.)
He likens the role of an officiating ref to that of a conductor conducting an orchestra. “They’re conductors of the game, to deliver every game to those that are there, the players and those who are watching.”
What’s rewarding for Milas is to go on to a park, referee a good game, and try and make as little mistakes as possible, which he admits is not always possible. “You know when a referee has missed something and that’s when people in the grandstand have all yelled and screamed and you think, ” What have I missed?” And when you look at your assistant ref and they’re shrugging their shoulders and you’re looking at yourself and coaches are yelling and screaming, and you know what? I have just missed something and I have no idea what it is…and that happens. And you try and not to make it up and not to even up the score by awarding a cheap free kick as most people think we do..’Hary that was a payback’..It’s not. And that’s where as a referee you need to keep talking to yourself and say ok, you’ve missed it. Sharpen up. Don’t make it up, don’t try and equalise the free kick tally.”
A common spectacle at all levels of the game these days is the sight of the referee stopping the game to come over to the bench to have discussions with bench that’s criticising the ref. Milas agrees there are coaches and clubs who deliberately try and pressure the referee by accusing them of giving the other side too many frees or their own side insufficient frees. He sees it often with clubs targeting younger referees in particular. “So many clubs will try and berate you screaming and yelling. The second you hear that, we call that a ‘headache’. You have to get rid of the headache.”
“It’s like a cancer, it will start from the bench and spread through the team….So if you can quell the coach.., We ask the linesman closest to the coach- ” Ask him to settle down, tell him what’s going to happen. ‘ In my case it’s, ‘If Hary comes across you’re gone- we give them three strikes and they’re out.”
Milas has seen numerous changes to the refereeing profession over the course of his career.
“Education and training of referees, the fitness of referees has changed exponentially. If you’re not fit players know it. Ninety eight per cent of them are young fellas that can keep up with play. On average we cover 9-12 km per game. You make a decision at the 90th minute, That’s when most penalties come, because all the players are tired. Lethargic and have run out of legs. The ref needs to be in that box up with play for that key decision.”
“Laws of Game knowledge, the way the players communicate and the relationships between clubs and refs have changed as well. We have a lot of meetings with clubs so they understand how we think as well.”
When asked what advice he would give to his younger self when he was starting out as a referee, Milas says, “Be true to yourself. Don’t second guess yourself. Make a decision even if it’s wrong or right, because people don’t know. They don’t know the rules of the game. They’ve seen something, but more often than not, they don’t know what they’ve just seen. You need to make the decision by taking a snapshot in your brain and once you’ve made it, just stick to it. They want a decision, rightly or wrongly, and you are the only person that’s qualified and in the best position to make it.”