FIFA Referee Sherwin Moore – carrying the Golden Arrow Head with the whistle

By Rawle Toney
They are the most hated on the pitch but still the most important. Being a referee in the world’s most popular sport – football – could be dangerous since your interpretation of the Laws of the Game, could be crucial to the team or players success.In a sport where the only people that seemingly matter are the players and where millions of dollars is spent daily and billions generated annually, referees are often times forgotten.

A discussion or argument about football could be heard on every street corner around the world, with conversation ranging from who’s the best player in the world, to who is the richest, with statistics to support ones pick being mentioned.

But, ask the most avid football fan to debate who is the best referee, it would be as if a litmus test is given.

The recently concluded STAG Elite League (Genesis) was given rave reviews and praised by football fans and administrators of the game. However, while the players, coaches and team owners were spoken of highly, the same could not have been said about the referees. But one referee stood out. Sherwin Moore.

Moore is ranked by FIFA as Guyana’s top Referee and is regarded as one of the best in the CONCACAF region.

Today, Chronicle Sports (CS) features Referee Sherwin Moore (SM).

Sherwin Moore Referee Facts

Full name: Sherwin Lennox Moore
Age: 39 (July 30, 1976)
Marital Status: Married to Coretta Moore and a father of two children (girls Shaerecia and Shevelia).
Grew up in: Devonshire Castle, Essequibo Coast
I grew up with grandparents since my parents resided overseas (Venezuela).
Profession: Civil Engineer (Degree) University of Guyana – 2000
Employer: Ministry of Education, Department of Culture Youth and Sports.

CS: When did you become interested in football?

SM: I became interested in football since I was about 5 years-old, being tagged along to different venues by my football playing uncles, operating as a “ball boy” on several occasions even during their training sessions. Those days I dreamt of one day playing in a world cup and never knew of all the logistical requirements of qualification and all that. During that dream I had calculated to make my world cup debut in 1998. Guess I was born in the wrong part of the world or you can argue not talented enough.

CS: Have you ever played competitive football?

SM: I played football at almost all levels, representing Essequibo at the under 13, 16 and 19 level. Captain my high school Anna Regina multilateral during the days of the Coca-Cola tournament and other school tournaments. I represented the Essequibo FA at the senior level, but my best playing years came at university as captain of the UG team competing admirably against the top teams in the country at the time.

CS: How you became involve in refereeing?

SM: During the period 2000 to 2003 I dabbled with football administration as the EFA (Essequibo/Pomeroon Football Association) assistant secretary and eventual secretary whiles working on the Essequibo coast. That led to me completing the referee’s beginner course in 2001 and started officiating since there was a need for referee in Essequibo.
A second move to the city in 2003 saw me making an effort to restart my playing career and commenced training with the Beacons football club, but with work commitment and later a family playing football competitively was eventually cast aside.

Then in 2009 I was encourage by a good friend in Mark Young who was then a FIFA referee to get involve again since I had some prior knowledge of both the game and refereeing. Well I did just that and completed a refresher course and here I am today.

CS: What do you like about refereeing?

SM: The most admired thing for me as a referee is the lifestyle. It calls for a tremendous amount of self discipline and commitment. I have always been a sports and fitness enthusiast. I am a great fan of the sport of football, but most of all I love the healthy lifestyle of refereeing. It causes me to train or do something active 5-6 times a week, I look at what I eat and how I eat in order to stay fit because being a referee is physically demanding. It also still gives me the opportunity to be on the pitch and close to the action which I really enjoyed over the years.

CS: What goals do you have as a FIFA Referee?

SM: When I started I have set myself short term to learn as much as I can of the art of refereeing and to be one of the top referees in the Caribbean, for those of us who are referees know how challenging it can be. I am still learning the art which will never end and I think within the last two years I have establish myself among the best in the CFU region and poised to be among the Elite referees in CONCACAF. The ultimate goal of all referees is to officiate at the senior world cup finals but my aim is to officiate at a FIFA finals tournament.

CS: What challenges you face thus far as an International Referee?

SM: The challenges are numerous, but I’m the type of person that looks for solutions to challenges. I want to start by highlighting that as a local international referee we do this part time and have to compete with the North and Central Americans who referee full time. So my greatest challenge has been to be release from work when I was at the Audit Office after being employed as an Engineer for over 11 years, to referee in international tournaments. It was so much of a challenge after officiating at the Pan American games in July of this year my previous employer and I parted ways.

So on that note I want to plea with the authorities to pay more emphasis to sports in general because other athletes face similar challenges. It is prestigious to represent your country and you should be given that recognition of provided national service. The other challenge I want to talk about is the level and quality of our local competitions. I am so happy to see the improve quality of the Elite league, but we still have a far way to go. It is an accepted fact that seeing yourself is the best tool for improvement and development, it is even recommended for training. So referees greatest chances of improvement is constructive criticism with high quality video reviews for correction and that is still lacking.

CS: What are some of the tournament you officiated in?

SM: I did the Caribbean cup from preliminaries to the final round. I officiated at the CONCACAF champion’s league and other CONCACAF finals. Just recently I did the Caribbean finals for the Olympic qualifiers between Haiti and Cuba. I was fortunate to carry the whistle also in the Caribbean club finals. I was the referee in charge of a few world cup qualifiers this year. My biggest tournament to date is officiating at the Pan American Games in Canada in July of this year since this was a cross confederation tournament with world class teams such as Brazil and Uruguay. Among other matches and duties, I officiated as fourth official in the semi final between Brazil and Uruguay then work again in the third place match.

CS: Who would you like to thank?

SM: I will like to thank my family for their support over the years. Refereeing is very demanding in terms of time and my wife has been very supportive and helpful even giving refereeing tips. Sometimes I referee on Christmas day, New years day, mother’s day and father’s day and Special days. Sometime I’m away for birthdays and other special occasions but my family is very understanding and supportive.
I would also like to thank the local instructors for their input and my fellow refereeing colleagues play an important role in my development and will share knowledge from time to time and that is relevant now more than ever.