On October 28th 2012, there was a football match between two teams in the English Premier League, Chelsea Football Club and Manchester United. They are commonly known as two of the most rivalrous teams in the league so this was a very intensely awaited game by all the fans. I as a Chelsea fan was really pumped and anticipated Chelsea's win as they were unbeaten this season and because this was at Chelsea's home stadium Stamford Bridge. Manchester United fans as usual were 'Glory Glory Man Utd'ing (their catchphrase) everywhere on social networks because United tends to win other cups here and there and their fan base is entirely comprised of glory hunters. I am aware of my personal bias against them but it's true! Their fans know nothing about football but as soon as they want to start rooting for a team, they pick United because of their popularity and winnings in previous seasons. Anyway, so the match ended with a 3-2 loss to Chelsea much to my disappointment and many others I know. However that match had a referee who was accused of being biased by many as during the course of the match he handed out a second yellow card to Chelsea's player Fernando Torres. It had seemed as if Torres had been fouled by a United player Evans and Chelsea should have gotten a free-kick, instead, the referee had accused Torres of diving, which was claimed by the Guardian to be "harsh" and resulted in immense fury among Chelsea fans. Prior to that he had given a red card to another Chelsea player, Ivanovic but that was not considered as unfair as the Torres exclusion from the game, resulting in Chelsea playing with just ten men.
The Monday after that weekend,we were all in History class and as usual a discussion about the match came up. Ahad, who is a Chelsea fan was absolutely dejected, yelling about how the referee Clattenburg was probably paid to eliminate Chelsea players off the pitch because of how he had judged Torres as the one at fault and given him a second yellow card when he 'clearly didn't deserve it.' Alyshah, who supports Manchester United, said that it was in fact, Torres who had dived and fouled against Evans, rather than the other way around, certain that the referee had not been biased in this situation and it had been fair. Lastly, Mr. Walton, who likes Arsenal FC, another team in the English Premier League, was slightly more objective than the two. He said that the referee has to make very quick judgements. In the span of a few seconds, he is supposed to call the foul and send someone off and in this case it was Chelsea's bad luck that it had been them he had called. I was listening to what they had to say but having seen the match, I realized my own personal bias in this situation as well. I strongly felt that the referee had been biased in a match where it is exceedingly important to be impartial which led me to think he was not even competent. Of course, this isn't true as he works for one of the most prestigious leagues but just because he called the players of the team I liked, off, it led to this strange reasoning I had come up with. I also saw Ahad's similar reaction and many of the people who support Chelsea that had posted statuses against the match altogether. The United fans were obviously content not even paying much regard to the referee at all, and we got to see Mr. Walton's opinion on it too where he said that the referee might have been off in this situation but they are forced to make very quick decisions. This indicates that the same scenario is perceived differently by each person because of our personal bias that comes along with everything we see, almost by nature and it's difficult to be completely objective in so many situations that have some attachment with us, which in this case is the team we support.
The Monday after that weekend,we were all in History class and as usual a discussion about the match came up. Ahad, who is a Chelsea fan was absolutely dejected, yelling about how the referee Clattenburg was probably paid to eliminate Chelsea players off the pitch because of how he had judged Torres as the one at fault and given him a second yellow card when he 'clearly didn't deserve it.' Alyshah, who supports Manchester United, said that it was in fact, Torres who had dived and fouled against Evans, rather than the other way around, certain that the referee had not been biased in this situation and it had been fair. Lastly, Mr. Walton, who likes Arsenal FC, another team in the English Premier League, was slightly more objective than the two. He said that the referee has to make very quick judgements. In the span of a few seconds, he is supposed to call the foul and send someone off and in this case it was Chelsea's bad luck that it had been them he had called. I was listening to what they had to say but having seen the match, I realized my own personal bias in this situation as well. I strongly felt that the referee had been biased in a match where it is exceedingly important to be impartial which led me to think he was not even competent. Of course, this isn't true as he works for one of the most prestigious leagues but just because he called the players of the team I liked, off, it led to this strange reasoning I had come up with. I also saw Ahad's similar reaction and many of the people who support Chelsea that had posted statuses against the match altogether. The United fans were obviously content not even paying much regard to the referee at all, and we got to see Mr. Walton's opinion on it too where he said that the referee might have been off in this situation but they are forced to make very quick decisions. This indicates that the same scenario is perceived differently by each person because of our personal bias that comes along with everything we see, almost by nature and it's difficult to be completely objective in so many situations that have some attachment with us, which in this case is the team we support.
