Complaints About the Referee Usually Come Only After Losing

Losing Makes Judgment Calls Feel Bigger

I have almost no interest in soccer.

So I learned from the morning news that Japan had lost its first match in the World Cup.

Apparently, the opponent was Brazil.

Among some fans, the story seems to be that Japan lost because of a bad call by the referee.

I understand the feeling.

The team you support loses.

On top of that, there was a close decision.

When that happens, it is natural to want to say, “If only that had not happened.”

Still, Japanese soccer fans may get angry at me for saying this, but honestly, if the opponent was Brazil, losing does not seem that surprising.

Of course, I am not saying that Japan’s national team is weak.

But when Japan faces Brazil in the knockout stage of the World Cup, saying, “We could have won, but the referee took it from us,” feels like a bit of a leap.

Maybe this is simply what watching sports is like.

I do not know much about soccer, so I cannot say whether that specific call was truly wrong.

But referees are human.

Naturally, they make mistakes.

That is probably why video review systems such as VAR were introduced.

They should be used in the World Cup as well.

Even so, not every decision will become completely satisfying to everyone.

Sports always leave some room for luck.

Refereeing decisions.

The way the ball bounces.

Matchups with the opponent.

The condition of the players on that day.

All of it is part of the contest.

Everyone Blames the Referee After Losing

Germany also seems to have lost.

Apparently, they lost to Paraguay, a team that had been seen as weaker.

And there too, fans are apparently talking about a bad call by the referee.

Japan loses, and it is the referee.

Germany loses, and it is the referee.

At some point, it starts to look as if losers around the world are all reading from the same script.

Of course, there really are bad decisions.

Bad calls can affect the result of a match.

So I do not think all criticism of referees is wrong.

But when that becomes the only story, it begins to sound a little like an excuse from the losing side.

The winning side does not talk much about the referee.

Few people go out of their way to say, “Actually, I feel sorry for the opponent because of that decision.”

Complaints about judgment calls usually come from the side that was hurt by them.

The Same Pattern Appears at Work

This is not limited to sports.

It happens at work too.

When things go well, it is because of our ability.

When things fail, the boss was bad.

The company was bad.

The client was bad.

The timing was bad.

The market was bad.

Human beings are extremely good at creating explanations that protect them from being hurt.

In psychology, there is a term called self-serving bias.

Success is due to our own ability.

Failure is due to external factors.

Roughly speaking, it is that convenient function of the mind.

To be fair, humans may not be able to live without it.

If we thought, “Everything is my fault,” every time we failed at something, our mental health would not last.

So some amount of self-protective storytelling may be necessary.

But if we hide inside that story too much, we cannot move forward.

The referee was bad.

Luck was bad.

The opponent played dirty.

The environment was bad.

As long as we keep saying those things, it becomes harder to see what we ourselves should have improved.

And when we lose in the same way again, we will simply search for another external factor.

Neither Extreme Is Safe

Of course, life includes genuine unfairness.

There are things that effort cannot overcome.

So I do not intend to say that everything is a matter of personal responsibility.

At the same time, however, “none of this is my fault” is also dangerous.

That too is a very convenient worldview.

When I see fans continue blaming the referee after a sports defeat, I am reminded of how capable the human brain really is.

Before analyzing the facts, it generates an explanation that protects self-esteem.

And it does so very quickly.

Maybe we should not laugh too much at AI hallucinations.

Humans have long been highly advanced at generating stories that are convenient for themselves.