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Originally Posted by Dakota
Bingo. In addition to training differences Mike mentioned, there are also cultural differences, especially in handling disputes, how important "face" is, etc. I would be astonished if these issues did not affect umpires, since they surely do affect business relationships between Americans and Asians (for example)... I know this from personal experience. Suppose an umpire on an all-American crew makes a call, and would ordinarily go to his partner if questioned by the coach. Now suppose it is an international crew and the cultural ways of even simple things like dealing with coaches (conflict) or going for help (face) are different. I don't know if international umpires get any training in cultural differences and how to deal with them, but if they don't, it will most definitely affect the performance of the crew even on simple things.
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I agree with you Dakota, but would add that I would think there has to be some sort of cultural training, especially in this day. Back when I was a Paramedic I got the chance to work the 1987 Pan Am games in Indy. Before any of us were assigned our first venue we had to go through a short culture class. It was not extensive at all but covered some things like making the "OK" sign is not acceptable in many countries and several it is actually an offensive sign.
I would think with today's much higher awareness of cultural differences that in an international event these differences would be covered at some point. As far as the ISF, I would think it would be part of training, but do not know this.