“When you start to fear for your safety and that of your family…”: former referee Nigel Owens sounds the alarm

LE FIGARO: Are you increasingly worried about criticism of refereeing? Nigel OWENS: I'm worried because they're not reviews anymore. These turned into death threats and insults. All of this is not acceptable. Nowhere. Afterwards, when you are a referee, you are inevitably criticized. It's part of the game. But with the appearance of social networks, this transformation has taken on considerable proportions. Many hide behind fake names, fake accounts. Even though I'm on it, I'm really pointing the finger at social media. Now we have to deal with that.

Did you experience the same situation when you were a referee or do you find that it has changed compared to before? It was the same. For me, it was worse because I was gay. I was probably getting more than normal. I was not criticized just because I was a referee but for my sexual orientation. I received death threats, hate messages, letters to my home, anonymous phone calls… It was the same thing in the end. The hardest part was that I had to act as if nothing had happened.

Is this an ephemeral “phenomenon” or on the contrary, do you think it will get worse? Criticisms towards refereeing have always existed! Coaches, supporters and players not agreeing with certain decisions, it will always exist! The problem is that now rugby has become too technical. Everyone wants a unique and perfect decision. But that is not possible ! The referees have a lot more pressure. And above all, quite a few former players or coaches, with successful careers and retrained as consultants, criticize the arbitration decisions. That doesn't help either.

You are undoubtedly aware of the decision of Tom Foley (video referee of the World Cup final), who decided to end his career after death threats against him. What do you think? It's really sad to see that a referee is forced to end his career because of the threats that may have been made to him. As I said, if you don't accept criticism, it's better not to act as an arbitrator. There, the limits were exceeded. When you start to worry about your safety and the health of your family... There's no point in insisting. This is all very sad.

In 2020, you announced the end of your refereeing career. Looking back and analyzing current rugby, are you happy to have stopped? I'm happy to have taken it, yes. I'm my age (52), I've served my time and I've given what I had to give. It was a good time to stop. I knew that, behind me, a lot of work awaited me with my agricultural farm. But I'm not happy that I stopped because of the criticism, just because I didn't have time for all that anymore. I am very happy in my current life.