{"id":292377,"date":"2023-09-13T09:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T09:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=292377"},"modified":"2023-09-13T09:36:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T09:36:00","slug":"why-rugby-world-cup-referees-arent-wearing-watches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-rugby-world-cup-referees-arent-wearing-watches\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Rugby World Cup referees aren&apos;t wearing watches"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>There&#8217;s something missing from every referee&#8217;s kit at the Rugby World Cup &#8211; here&#8217;s why they&#8217;re officiating without an important piece of equipment<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Referees are involved in a standoff with a sponsor\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Comes after retired official reportedly sold off sponsor&#8217;s gift\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sponsor has been labelled &#8216;petty&#8217; by rugby fans<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One of the leading jobs of a referee is to manage the time in a football match, yet officials at the Rugby World Cup\u00a0aren&#8217;t wearing watches because of a row with timepiece sponsor Tudor.<\/p>\n<p>Eagle-eyed rugby supporters have noticed that referees at the tournament in France have their whistle wrapped around one wrist but their watches are glaringly missing from the other.<\/p>\n<p>Tudor is a long-term sponsor of the Rugby World Cup and posted on Facebook prior to the 2023 tournament to tell fans &#8216;we&#8217;re honoured to be the Official Timekeeper, capturing every heart-pounding moment and adrenaline-fueled play&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The Tudor website continues: &#8216;Rugby is an uncompromising sport with bold values, a true reflection of the spirit that has driven this watchmaking brand since its inception.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>However, the referees are not wearing Tudor watches this tournament &#8211; and are not allowed to wear other timepieces due to the sponsorship arrangement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/03\/75364017-12507221-image-m-44_1694573170631.jpg\" height=\"709\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rugby fans are saying Tudor should get a yellow card for not supplying officials with their watches at this World Cup, an essential part of a referee&#8217;s kit<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/13\/03\/75319011-12507221-Referee_Mathieu_Raynal_has_his_trusty_whistle_and_notebook_but_h-a-39_1694570858348.jpg\" height=\"441\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Referee Mathieu Raynal has his trusty whistle and notebook but eagle-eyed fans have noticed he and his colleagues aren&#8217;t wearing timepieces at the Cup<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/04\/75318979-12507221-image-a-3_1694489481514.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A sideline official watches Fijian star Semi Radradra make a break against Wales, checking to make sure he doesn&#8217;t go into touch. Just don&#8217;t ask him to check the time<\/p>\n<p>Instead, they have to rely on the\u00a0television match official, the stadium clocks and the siren to adjudicate the game &#8211; including stoppage time.<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand website Stuff.co.nz has reported the reason behind the lack of watches is a standoff between the Swiss company and officials.<\/p>\n<p>The issue dates back to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, when officials were given Tudor watches.<\/p>\n<p>It has been alleged one of those referees, who has since retired, angered the company by selling their timepiece after the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>The piece in question was a Tudor Black Bay Chronograph Limited Edition that came with its own certificate of authenticity and was valued at over $25,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, rugby officials are understood to be bemused by the standoff, because they have never been directly told they cannot sell the watches in the past.<\/p>\n<p>The referees were told they could wear Garmin watches instead of Tudor because they are not direct competitors.<\/p>\n<p>But they collectively decided not to bow to the wishes of Tudor and just go without instead.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/04\/75318975-12507221-image-a-4_1694489486161.jpg\" height=\"793\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The $25,000\u00a0Tudor Black Bay Chronograph Limited Edition that was allegedly sold by a 2019 World Cup referee who has since retired<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/12\/04\/75319009-12507221-image-a-5_1694489489964.jpg\" height=\"426\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Referees have been reduced to relying on the big screen to keep track of time during matches, like the players and spectators<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;The sponsor&#8217;s angry, and it&#8217;s a bit petty&#8230; it&#8217;s just so poor,&#8217; a well-placed source told the publication.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;So for the first time ever in a World Cup, for the first time ever in tier-one test matches, the official timekeepers of a game are not wearing a watch.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;It&#8217;s the biggest games in the world and the referees aren&#8217;t keeping time.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The standoff has been slammed by rugby fans.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;That&#8217;s ridiculous &#8211; Tudor can&#8217;t have their cake and eat it too. If you want them to wear your watch, provide one. Otherwise, they can and should wear whatever watch they want,&#8217; one posted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Tudor is paying lots and lots of money for sponsorship and then throws it all down the drain, bigtime, by acting petty. Doesn&#8217;t sound like a good business practice to me,&#8217; added another.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Tudor will likely come to regret this decision &#8211; if they are going to decline to provide a watch for the referees, they should not then be able to tell the referee&#8217;s that they can&#8217;t wear another brand,&#8217; posted another.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Daily Mail Australia has contacted Tudor for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12507221\/Rugby-World-Cup-referees-no-watches-Tudor.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There&#8217;s something missing from every referee&#8217;s kit at the Rugby World Cup &#8211; here&#8217;s why they&#8217;re officiating without an important <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Rugby World Cup referees aren&amp;apos;t wearing watches - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/why-rugby-world-cup-referees-arent-wearing-watches\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Rugby World Cup referees aren&amp;apos;t wearing watches - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There&#8217;s something missing from every referee&#8217;s kit at the Rugby World Cup &#8211; 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