“As I bring the curtains down on my refereeing career, and reflect on the journey, I must say I enjoyed it every step of the way. After being reintroduced to this wonderful art, I told myself to give it my best shot and here I am today completing seven marvelous years as a FIFA international referee.”
Those were the words of former International Federation of Association Football [FIFA] referee Sherwin Moore, who has opted to officially retire from the beautiful game.
The soft-spoken Moore conducted an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport on his journey to become an international referee and his decision to walk away from the game. Below features the entirety of the dialogue.
1. Why did you decide to hang up your whistle? What were the main reasons?
“My passion for the game is still burning deep, just as the first day I fell in love with it. I believe the time has come for me to step off the field of play and see what the future holds. This decision to end my career now was prompted by a combination of things. Firstly, the game is evolving every day and the physical requirements keep getting tougher and tougher. Secondly, 2019 was a challenging year administratively, and that helped to push me to this decision.
“Though short in comparison to some, I’m proud of my accomplishments. My greatest joy comes from the many that I was able to meet and interact with, creating lasting friendships and memories both locally and internationally. Sitting at a round table to talk about refereeing with Pierluigi Collina, regarded as the all-time greatest referee ever was one of those lasting memories. Refereeing has afforded me the opportunity to travel North and Central America and most of the Caribbean region. Through the guidance of the Almighty and his imparted strength, wisdom and blessings this could not have been possible.
“It will be remiss of me not to express my thanks and appreciation to all the persons, associations and organizations that has made this possible. My family has been my rock over the years. My beautiful wife Coretta and our two adorable children were my greatest supporters. Many days they would accompany me to training and wait diligently for me to complete my programme. I would like to thank the Guyana Football Federation for the FIFA nomination for the seven consecutive years and no objection for my participation in tournaments when they were granted. My gratitude is also express to CONCACAF and CFU for appointing me to matches and showing great confidence in my ability to take charge of some of their important games.”
2. What were some of your major accomplishments in the refereeing? Most notably what was your highest point of achievement?
“When I became a FIFA referee I had some set goals among them being rank among CONCACAF best. I’m happy to say that I have achieved most of those goals based on what time has afforded me. In 2013 and 14, I was part of the CONCACAF pilot programme at the Dallas Cup tournament. In 2016 I was the recipient of the male referee of the year award from the Guyana Football Referees Council. In 2018 I was ranked as a tier 2 referee, by virtue of this fact I was invited to CONCACAF courses and participated in the region’s top tournaments. Despite 2019 was not exactly how I wrote my script this is the year that I received my highest ranking and was among the few tiered referees of CONCACAF. I was ranked as a tier 3 referee, this signifies that you are one of the top 30 referees in the region. This again meant invitation to courses and top tournaments.”
Among the notable international events officiated by Moore include the Pan American Games Canada 2015, 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifiers, CONCACAF Olympic Qualifiers (Under- 23) Brazil 2016, CONCACAF Champions League [2013-2018], CONCACAF League, CFU U17 and U20 Group Stage and Final, the CFU Club Championship and Final and CFU Caribbean Cup Championship and Final. Moore also officiated several local championship finals.
“The GFF year-end Super 16 Cup was my last tournament where I carried the whistle in the exciting semifinal clash between the Guyana Defense Force FC and the Guyana Police Force FC at the GFC ground on December 29, 2019. Just as I closed my first interview as a FIFA referee I want to again encourage young football passionate persons to join refereeing and embark on a journey that will be pleasantly unforgettable.”
3. Conversely, what was your lowest point in officiating?
“Coming from the Caribbean with a full-time engineering career, refereeing part time is a significant challenge. As a “part-timer” you have to compete with the likes of the Americans and Mexicans who are full-time professional referees. So time to focus consistently on the game was a challenge. The year 2019 definitely did not go according to scrip so this can be seen as a low point. One of my regrets is not participating in a CONCACAF Gold Cup of FIFA finals.”
4. Do you have any plans to give back to the officiating committee?
“Many has questioned what is next for me after officiating. I am certainly open to sharing the knowledge that I have acquired over the years and those around me have been benefitting throughout my career with training regimen, law interpretations, analysis of match incidents and explanation and interpretation of law changes. Refereeing is a technical skill that needs careful nurturing and teaching and was badly lacking locally and to a degree still is. Without blowing my trumpet too loud, I believe that I’m at a place where my knowledge and expertise garnered over the years can be useful.”
5. What are your thoughts on the current state of referees locally?
“Without a doubt the state of referees now is at the lowest that it has ever been during my career. If you go to our members, football administrators and even an avid football fan, this will be a universal cry. The referee membership is dwindling. No beginner’s course in Georgetown for years; the largest sub-association with the most tournaments. Refereeing has been making the media for the wrong reason.”
“The referees’ council cannot get a quorum for AGM is as low as you can go. This speaks of the division that exists within groupings of referees. No longer has a rookie referee had to hone their skills for a period to be thrown into the Member Association top flight. It is more based on who is available. Developmental courses/training is nonexistent sorry to say. The games continue to play, but only real eyes for the game can tell you what you get. What is really sad is that apparently no significant effort is being made to get things to where it should be. I know this is a mouthful, but it is the harsh really of the state of refereeing locally.”
