Unloved

It is with a mixture of sympathy, horror and regret that we report the decision of the Swedish referee, Anders Frisk, to leave football after death threats to himself and his family. He is right: the game - even the game of football - is not worth all that. Yet without individuals paid to make and uphold unpopular rules, where would civilisation be? A government without tax-inspectors would soon have no social programmes. A transport system without ticket inspectors would have no funds to run its buses. Imagine John McEnroe playing anyone without an umpire at the net - or Chelsea v Barcelona, second leg, last week.