Re: Icelandic Referees Referees play an important role in any sport. Soccer is not the exception.
They are in charge of justice on the pitch. However justice does not wear a blindfold on the soccer fields in Iceland. The men in black are unfair, not to mention partial to teams and players.
Some footballers viciously and maliciously come after some opponents trying to take them out of the game without any regard of fair play, much less the safety of the player.
It is in these circumstances that the referees wear the blindfolds. They see only what they want to see.
A vivid example that illustrates the point I am trying to get across is Alicia Wilson who plays for KR. She is a very talented and skillful player, and I believe whoever has seen her play would agree with me. She is also the fastest and quickest player in Iceland. Moreover, these qualities have become Alicia’s worst nightmare. Opponent players come after her in every game trying to take her out of the game by any means, and the man in charge of justice is nowhere to be found. Alicia is passionate about the game, but she is by no means a dirty player. She is an example and many should learn from her.
There are five components in soccer, technical, physical, tactical, psychological, and the regulations of the game. Aggression has never been part of the sport, and when it takes place, it is punished. However this rule is not applicable when KR number 7 is attacked, and if she responds in any way she is mercilessly punished.
Icelandic referees, stop the attacks promptly, and do not run off international players who bring something good to the league and help make it better. Take off the blindfold and let justice wear it.
Truly yours,
Oscar E. Lopez
olopez_98@yahoo.com
Dear Oscar,
First off, in Iceland, it is called football, not soccer. Soccer is a word used by barbarians. Second, what is your relationship with Alicia Wilson?
To me, the referee is allowed to make human errors, same as the players. If you are suggesting that the referees are corrupted, I think you are wrong. This is not the NBA we are talking about. And by the way, my congratulations to Valur FC for winning the Icelandic championship in women’s football.
Editor
1 comment: ÁTVR Never let a government or state run a public concession of any kind.
Does the Mayor know that these kind of people do not care if the beer is cold or not.
This violence occures late at night, the state booze stores close at 7pm.
If there are six daytime street drinking guys together and ÁTVR will only sell by the six pack, then guess how the six daytime street drinking guys will get their own individual can of beer???
I wonder if the Mayor has thought that there might be a drug problem in his town that is causing most this violence. I
llegal drugs are available to buy 24hours a day on the street and at every school ground.
Maybe on the street right in front of the Mayors office. Could it just be, that the old daytime street drinking guys are smarter then the Mayor.
People in Demark will have good joke on this one.— The joke is on the Mayor of Reyjavík.
Jonas Thor
Gozo, Malta
Dear Jonas,
Obviously, Icelandic alcohol regulations do not compare favourably to Danish alcohol regulations. Or maybe that depends on the viewpoint, I don’t know. But I don’t think the Mayor gave this much thought at all. It was a reflex action when some one yelled fire!
Editor
We spoke to someone in the editorial department last week about the changing face of Reykjavik. We have been travelling to Iceland since the early 90’s, sometimes twice a year and we have always enjoyed spending 2 or 3 nights in Reykjavik. It was a lively, friendly, relatively clean city. We feel there have been some changes which make it a much less appealing place to visit. We believe that a lack of pride and caring about the physical environment has infiltrated Reykjavik’s culture to a great degree. A walk along Laugavegur revealed a number of smashed shop windows. This we have never seen before. Litter in alley ways , along city steets and in vacant lots is very unappealing to us as tourists. It seems the litter has increased to a great degree. Grafitti is now almost everywhere from older unoccupied buildings to newly painted renovated structures. This also is very unattractive and unappealing and we’re sure owners of the structures are not thrilled. The grafitti for the most part is far from artistic. To us it seem as though Reykjavik is losing its soul and is being abused by many individuals. We believe unless steps are taken to really curb these abuses and solutions are found with input from all parties involved, Reykjavik will become less and less appealing to tourists and to those people living there. The secure feeling we have had in the past was not present during our last visit. We hope that things do change so Reykjavik can once again become a special European city. We hope Icelandic pride and ingenuity will bring Reykjavik back to an environmental leadership position as the major city in a country with a unique environment. We look forward to hearing from you.
Cindy and Paul Kaplan
Swan’s Island, Maine, U.S.
Dear Cindy and Paul,
I am sorry to hear that our city no longer appeals to you. However, I don’t think the city is any worse than it has been for the last ten years. And, you know, I live here, so, case
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