The Southeastern Conference hired international accounting firm Deloitte to conduct a review of its football officiating, reacting in part to what Commissioner Greg Sankey called the intense, often opinionated view of referees by the public and media.
Sankey said conversations began in September about ways to examine officiating and find ways to better communicate with the public about the overall quality of the work done by referees at a time when scrutiny and criticism has never been more pervasive. He said the SEC was not responding to a particular problem and does not consider the review an audit.