Bribe Ref

"And the ref just called a bullshit penalty!"

- Grim Blitzrow

is one of the Dirty Tricks the players can use in Mutant Football League.

Teams
All teams can use this Dirty Trick.

Abilities
If a team has employed this trick, the referee will do the following in its favor:
 * overturn any major play against that team (e.g. allowed a long-yardage play, turned the ball over or allowed a score) with a bogus 10-yard penalty.
 * overlook any major penalty that should have been called against the team which bribed him (e.g. unnecessary manslaughter)

The ref is loyal to the team that last bribed him. Earlier versions of this article claimed that bribing a ref that the other team has bribed will only cancel out the bribe; this is not correct.

Counterplay
At the first sign of a dirty ref, there are two methods to counter.


 * Use your own to flip the ref to your side.
 * Use Ref attack to replace the dirty ref.

The first method avoids a 15-yard penalty for refslaughter, which can be hefty if you noticed due to a bogus 10-yard penalty, and you now have your own bribe in place. However, your bribe will work immediately, even if the effect is not timely. Also, your opponent may realize you've converted the ref before they get their own bogus penalty if they notice a no-call or that the ref allowed your massive play to stand. (The AI is capable of noticing this.)

The second method costs 15 yards, though is your only option if you don't have a bribe. You may also want to kill the ref to save your bribe for a higher-leverage time in the half.

The AI always seems to attack the ref rather than counter-bribing.

Penalties
There are no penalties for bribing the referee. A dirty ref allowed to live will continue to make biased calls until he is dealt with.

Manual
Description from the Official Game Manual:

It’s easy to tell when a ref is bribed because he calls silly, nonsensical penalties and has “BRIBED” floating above his head during the game.

Since bribed refs have no loyalties, a team can bribe an already bribed ref. Once bribed, the ref will turn on the other team who originally bribed them.