NEW YORK - Insiders with the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) indicate that the group is attempting to trademark the statement Worst Referees In The World (TM).

“They always say you should lean into something instead of pushing against it,” stated one anonymous insider with the organization. “And in this case we think they’ve got it right. We received notification from our public relations office that we may want to review this decision but we feel 100% confident that our people in charge made the right call and there’s no reason to review any of this.”

Analysts say that trademarking the phrase would prevent other organizations and journalists from utilizing the phrase to describe referees outside the organization as the Worst Referees In The World (TM).

“No longer can you say that FIFA or the AYSO or the NASO or the AFC have the Worst Referees In The World (TM),” stated one anonymous referee. “No longer will we hide in the shadows and pretend to be good. Say it loud and say it proud. We are SHIT and we are proud of it! We are SHIT and we are proud of it!”

Agitators within PRO indicate that a cabal of referees have been pressuring for this move for some time as a measure of self acceptance and self love.

“We cannot love ourselves until we accept that we are who we are and that is a flawed person incapable of seeing and calling everything on the field; and, as well, incapable of caring about VAR. We must be proud to be shit, we must be proud to miss calls and we must be proud to overly influence the games to our own capricious standards that change on a whim because that is who we are, the Worst Referees In The World (TM).”

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as fans find alternative, royalty free ways to voice their displeasure.