Don't foul up the Premier League by meddling with its refereeing culture

Football has historically been officiated differently in England compared to continental Europe, with economic incentives playing an important role in propagating the differences. Calling fewer fouls and allowing for more physical play has helped the English Premier League maintain its status as the world’s most popular club competition, but the gradual harmonisation of officiating is undermining this commercial advantage.

As a child growing up in the UK playing football all day with my friends, I received a veritable English footballing education. I never really realised what that meant until I moved to the US for my postgraduate studies and started playing with young men from all over the world. I instantly noticed the lower bar that Latin Americans and southern Europeans set for what constitutes a foul. Moreover, I had a much higher willingness to yell “play on” whenever a marginal foul could be plausibly ignored.

Not coincidentally, I was slightly faster and more physical in my play than my peers who grew up in a non-English football culture, and technically way below them. Having grown up in an environment that rewarded speed and aggression, my skills developed accordingly. To me, spending time in the gym building upper-body strength was more useful than practising juggling the ball. This culture filtered all the way up to the highest echelons of the Premier League, where homegrown English stars were powerhouses like Alan Shearer and Paul Ince, compared to the technical wizardry of continental players like Xavi Hernandez or Andrea Pirlo.

The difference at all levels was embodied in the existence of the English football maxim “when in doubt, kick it out” and the absence of a Spanish or Italian analogue. The emphasis on the speed and fluidity of the game made an important contribution to English football’s popularity around the world.