"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
Loving the umpire: you can not be serious!
It is part of modern football, that a referee who awards a penalty is likely to be surrounded by a group of protesting players. What is the Christian's attitude to the officials?
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1
Romans 13 refers primarily to political rulers but can reasonably have application to match officials, since they have been put in a place of authority over us for that game and if we are to love our neighbour as we love ourselves then it is hard to see how that can exclude the match officials.
Romans 13 is about submission to the authorities. Does this mean that Christians be players who never question the referee? As we noted earlier, it is important to understand what love is. Loving the umpire doesn't mean saying, "Great game umpire", when she has had a poor game. Our aim is to help them be as good as they possibly can. Perhaps you would say something like, "Thanks umpire. I thought you controlled the game pretty well but could you just explain how you came to award that penalty."
Living at peace with officials may very well include respectful dialogue. But this has to be done in a spirit of motivating an official to do a better job.
If you feel that the officials are being intimidated (and influenced in their decisions) by the opposition players or coach, then to say so respectfully is acceptable. To try to counter-balance the intimidation is not. As team captain at the beginning of a game, which you fear could develop into an aggressive physical battle, it may be helpful to encourage the referee not to be afraid to take the tough decision when it is needed.
Remember that the officials are only human. They have good games and bad games, just like you!
My attitude to the match officials should be: how can I help the officials to produce a fair contest rather than how much can I get away with in today's game?