The main question in the days leading up to the Super Bowl was not related to Patrick Mahomes’ chances of ever reaching Tom Brady’s seven titles, Donald Trump’s presence at the game, or how the Chiefs will contain Saquon Barkley. The question that has arisen in several press conferences throughout the week is whether the referees “help” Kansas City.
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The obvious and objective answer is "no", but its appearance is quite a novelty in a competition that doesn't usually have these controversies, which are common, for example, in football with Real Madrid in Spain or the Argentina national team in the World Cup, to name a few examples.
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Why did the controversy arise about the alleged referee assistance against the Chiefs?
The topic emerged during the regular season and grew during the playoffs to finally settle in.
This Thursday at the NFL Honors held in New Orleans, host Snoop Dogg opened the annual awards ceremony by saying that this Sunday in the Super Bowl, the “Eagles against the refs” with Commissioner Roger Goodell sitting in the front rows.
In the postseason, the Chiefs benefited from favorable referee decisions. In the divisional round against the Texans, there were two roughing the passer penalties against Mahomes during the 23-14 victory that were considered exaggerated, including by ESPN commentators Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.
The criticism escalated when in the tight AFC final between Kansas City and Buffalo, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was not given the conversion on a fourth and 1 play in the last quarter of the game, when television images seemed to show that he did reach the needed yard. On social media, sports celebrity and owner of Barstool Sports, David Portnoy, stated that he was giving up on watching the NFL and used the hashtag #NFLRigged in one of his comments.
What did the NFL commissioner say in response to the accusations?
In one of his press conferences this week, Roger Goodell said that "many of those theories are things that happen on social media and gain new life. I understand that. I think it reflects the passion of the fans and is a reminder to us of how important officiating is. I believe that the men and women who officiate in the NFL are outstanding. We have the highest possible standards. It's a ridiculous theory."
Scott Green, executive director of the NFL Referees Association, issued a statement on Tuesday thanking Commissioner Goodell for dismissing the accusations and addressing the "conspiracy theories" that abound on social media about favoritism towards the Chiefs: "Officiating crews do not work with the same members more than twice each regular season. It is insulting and absurd to hear conspiracy theories that somehow suggest that 17 officiating teams, a total of 138 referees, are colluding to help a team."
Travis Kelce's reaction, the famous tight end of the Chiefs, was less diplomatic: "They have nothing else to ask," he said during the Opening Night.