Quote: Kelvin's Ferret "I think it's just human nature, we all have cognitive biases, and even if as a part of their role refs work hard to control theirs they are still human. They are still prone to the same suggestions as everyone else and hold prior beliefs like everyone else and even just on a subconscious level that can affect them.'"
I really don't think it's that much of a problem as is made out.
Lots of people on here look at penalty counts as a stick with which to beat referees. If a penalty count is skewed, it must be because a ref is favouring a team, right?
The better teams tend to end up on the right side of a penalty count not because the referee has a bias, but because the better teams are usually stronger, faster, better disciplined and smarter - attributes that naturally force opponents into making mistakes.
Catalans make this complaint a lot, yet watch some of their games and tell me that there poor disciplinary record isn't fully deserved.