Officiating emergency

Refereeing a basketball game is no joke. You're constantly under pressure to make decisions, moving quickly and getting into position while everybody else is likewise moving and making contact.

- By BILL VELASCO

We've said that the only time you know you've done a good job is when only half of the people complain. But so far, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines has had multiple incidents of referees losing command and control of the game.

It started with the pay gap between male and female referees. It would not have been so bad if it wasn’t reported that the salaries of female referees were decreased in favor of their male counterparts. This already cast the spotlight on the league, getting the wrong kind of attention.

Next came the Adamson-UP game three weeks ago, where confusion resulted in the Falcons only having four players on the floor for 10 seconds. It magnified the impression that the referees did not have full command of what was going on. No infractions, just an error that could've been avoided.