[cognito20]

[ QUOTE ]
why is there only one referee in the middle?

[/ QUOTE ]

In some of the matches I work, there isn't. There is only one referee if the diagonal system is being used, in which there is one on-field referee and two assistants running the touchlines. In the dual system, which is used if there are only 2 officials available to work a given match (I see this one used more at high school or NJCAA level), there are 2 on-field officials, each of whom is responsible for one half of the pitch, and no linesmen. With the diagonal system, it's a lot easier to adjudge things like offside since the assistant referee tends to stay even with the second-to-last defender and is actively looking for it. In the dual system, offside becomes a lot harder to judge correctly since by the nature of the system the referees are sometimes out of position to see where precisely the player was when the ball was played to him or her, but more of the on-field fouls tend to get called since there are 2 sets of eyes watching more closely. There is also a system called the "double-dual" system with 3 on-field referees, but that one doesn't get used very much.

[ QUOTE ]
have you ever been proposed with a bribe to throw a match to a particular team?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nah, I don't work in the Italian league. :P Seriously, though, I don't officiate at a high enough level where anyone would bother. Even if it did happen, I enjoy refereeing and the game far too much to risk a career I get a great deal of satisfaction from for a little extra money to cheat. If anyone approached me with a bribe, I'd basically tell them to go s**t in their hat.