The Referee's Call

In the eighty-ninth minute, Clemens is standing exactly where a referee should be, near the edge of the penalty area. Then the defender's boot catches the striker's ankle. The striker falls. The sound of the contact is small, but it carries.

En el minuto ochenta y nueve, Clemens está parado exactamente donde debe estar un árbitro, cerca del borde del área penal. Entonces el botín del defensa engancha el tobillo del delantero. El delantero cae. El sonido del contacto es pequeño, pero se oye.

The score is one-all. The home supporters, gathered along the fence with flasks of tea, go quiet for half a second and then explode into shouting. The home team is coached by Clemens's uncle.

El marcador está uno a uno. Los hinchas locales, reunidos junto a la valla con termos de té, se quedan callados medio segundo y luego estallan en gritos. El equipo local lo entrena el tío de Clemens.

Clemens is sixteen. He has been refereeing under-fifteen games for a year, mostly on Saturday mornings, for a small fee and a free sandwich. His whistle hangs from a red lanyard. It was a birthday present, and his uncle gave it to him.

Clemens tiene dieciséis años. Lleva un año arbitrando partidos sub-15, sobre todo los sábados por la mañana, por una pequeña paga y un sándwich gratis. Su silbato cuelga de un cordón rojo. Fue un regalo de cumpleaños, y se lo dio su tío.

He learned the rules in his uncle's garden, using two jackets as goalposts. "Whatever the rule book says," his uncle told him once, "the game only works if someone is willing to be disliked." Clemens had thought it was a joke.

Aprendió las reglas en el jardín de su tío, usando dos chaquetas como postes. «Diga lo que diga el reglamento», le dijo su tío una vez, «el juego solo funciona si alguien está dispuesto a que no lo quieran.» Clemens había pensado que era una broma.

Now the striker looks up at him from the grass. Clemens replays the moment in his head. The defender never touched the ball. If it had been a closer call, he could have waved play on and nobody would have blamed him. But it wasn't close.

Ahora el delantero lo mira desde el césped. Clemens repite la jugada en su cabeza. El defensa nunca tocó el balón. Si hubiera sido una jugada más dudosa, habría podido dejar seguir y nadie lo habría culpado. Pero no fue dudosa.

Along the touchline, his uncle has stopped moving. He doesn't shout. He just stands with his hands on his hips, looking at Clemens the way he looks at a puzzle he already knows the answer to.

A lo largo de la línea de banda, su tío ha dejado de moverse. No grita. Solo está de pie con las manos en la cintura, mirando a Clemens como mira un rompecabezas cuya respuesta ya conoce.

Clemens blows the whistle and points to the spot. The noise is immediate. A parent calls him a disgrace. One of the players says that he must be joking.

Clemens toca el silbato y señala el punto penal. El ruido es inmediato. Un padre lo llama una vergüenza. Uno de los jugadores dice que debe de estar bromeando.

"It was a foul," Clemens says, quietly, to nobody in particular. His voice shakes, although his arm does not.

«Fue falta», dice Clemens, en voz baja, a nadie en particular. Le tiembla la voz, aunque no el brazo.

The penalty is taken in a silence so complete that he can hear the net move. The ball goes in. Two minutes later the final whistle blows, and Clemens shakes hands with both captains and collects his sandwich.

El penal se cobra en un silencio tan completo que puede oír moverse la red. El balón entra. Dos minutos después suena el pitazo final, y Clemens estrecha la mano de ambos capitanes y recoge su sándwich.

He thinks about cycling past his uncle's house on the way home, and then thinks better of it. On Saturdays the whole family eats at his grandmother's table, and excuses are not accepted.

Piensa en pasar en bicicleta frente a la casa de su tío de camino a casa, y luego lo piensa mejor. Los sábados toda la familia come en la mesa de su abuela, y no se aceptan excusas.

The soup is served. Nobody mentions the match. His cousin stares into her bowl as if there might be a message at the bottom of it. His uncle eats slowly, wipes his mouth and puts down his spoon.

Sirven la sopa. Nadie menciona el partido. Su prima mira su plato como si pudiera haber un mensaje en el fondo. Su tío come despacio, se limpia la boca y deja la cuchara.

"You were in the right place," he says at last. "Better placed than I would have been."

«Estabas en el lugar correcto», dice por fin. «Mejor colocado de lo que yo habría estado.»

Clemens nods. He doesn't trust himself to say anything.

Clemens asiente. No confía en sí mismo para decir nada.

His uncle pushes the dish of potatoes across the table. "Eat, referee," he says. "You look like you've been running all day."

Su tío empuja la fuente de papas por la mesa. «Come, árbitro», dice. «Parece que has estado corriendo todo el día.»