True but the rules differ, and football allows more contact. In football you can body check another player, which you can't in basketball. Suffice to say, the more your rules allow contact, the higher the risk of injury.
Tell you what. If FIFA really wanted to put an end to a long list of problems, replays will solve them. Why don't you see players harass the ref during rugby games? Because they know that everything is on tape, so to speak. It will help determine if a player dived, if the ball actually crossed the line, if Vinnie Jones actually grabbed Paul Gascoigne's groin and so on. Refs also won't get stick from players and fans because their calls will be backed by 'evidence'.

agree completely with Duke.

it's 1 thing for refs to be protected from abuse and threats to him and his family and so on, but its another to shield him from daily banter and complains. For example look at Babel's case. What does that twitter does to Webb? is he such a girly girl that the picture makes him cry every night to sleep and has emotional issue until he cant do his job anymore, until he needs to visit a psychiatrist? FA has to step in and find Babel, as a "protection" of webb's image. This is the sort of overprotection i think is not necessary...they are starting to take the American style of suing and charging every single incident that doesnt benefit them.

Then there's Rafael's case. Ok he got sent off, maybe the second card was harsh, but its not like the team never get lenient decisions as well. I leave that out coz its part of parcel of football, some fine day u get good results other times u are unlucky. Rafael also maybe shouldnt raise his voice and all, but even if he and Rooney did, it is pure frustration. I once told off my own friend who was the linesman just because he said the ball was out of line when i was dribbling it. like Duke said, its part and parcel of the game. Refs should be able to handle it and shrug it off, and i think the suspension for the red card is a punishment enough for a player. But FA have to "protect" the ref and start charging. What, is Rafael that ugly that when he starts shouting, Mike Dean have 3 nights consecutive of Jack the Ripper nightmare? Then i cant imagine how Mancini's life is when Tevez shout at him for substituting him off the other day. It would be a totally different case if Rafael shoved or headbutted Dean, but apparently refs nowadays have fragile emotions, some bad words to them and they cant take it.

These protections give refs the license to being careless in their jobs and not have to worry the consequences. It's like the government, if they have all the protection they have then they dont have to worry about screwing up the rakyat because they know if there is an uproar, the police will step in and capture any of those retaliating. Over time, as refs finds they can get away with bad decisions over and over again, there will definitely be more and more of bad decisions going around. At the end of the day, its the receiving team's that have to suffer (relegation, suspension, losing out on title etc which costs them millions of dollars of income) while the refs continue on gleefully with their jobs without the need to improve. Refs should be a respectable figure but as of now, they are made to be feared.

Hope what i said makes sense to majority of the posters here, without any hint of club favourism whatsoever. I just think refs need to step up on their job and these strict FA stance wont help that cause.

I've never thought much of the whole "Respect the Referees Campaign". I can see why it is necessary but it needs to be clearly stated where the line is drawn. I generally do not think that authorities should be given too much protection to the extent they do not need to be accountable for dodgy decisions. Sometimes, all someone wants to hear is the referee go, "I apologise, I got it wrong". I'm sure everyone will understand as the game happens in real time, and his decisions must be made without the benefit of video replays. They are bound to get it wrong sometimes. I think it's only fair that they can be questioned, because their calls can be worth millions of pounds.

Having said all that, statistics prove that the campaign has generated some positive results.

- Assault on referees are down 13%
- Referee numbers are up 7.4%
- Dissent cautions across the top four divisions are down 9%

(source : http://www.thefa.com/leagues/respect).

While I do feel that referee should not be untouchable, I do feel that any petition against them, or vocal disagreement undermining his authority should be kept behind closed doors and out of the media. You don't want to see fans taking their manager's lead, berrating the ref at each given opportunity. I've referees games before and I absolutely hate doing so because you're almost bound to have someone in your face at some point.