User blog comment:Zolnir/Flaw in Tournament Setup/@comment-5414218-20160317123214/@comment-11188061-20160317132939

Exactly; since you didn't say I am liable to be confused since you phrased it as if to provide a negative opinion about having a referee. I apologize.

And no, there definitely is a chance for a referee to save Oobleck. Remember that the senior Huntsman are far stronger and experienced than any normal Huntsman. If it was Oobleck he had a chance of superspeeding ahead of the string and blades and pushing/carrying Penny away, albeit at the risk of his own life. If it was Glynda all she needed is to counter with a telekinesis, and she is a ridiculously powerful one judging from V2E1. I dared not say Port because he seems like he's slow and likely not suitable for the task. Ironwood is also not a suitable choice because of his half cyborg body, although we haven't seen his Semblance yet. Qrow or Raven (of course she'd never be in, but as an example) would've just sliced all of them mid air. Ozpin would turn even the deadliest attacks into into fireworks.

Case in point: A good/powerful enough referee absolutely has the ability to stop a tragedy from happening - in fact they wouldn't be appointed as a referee if they didn't have some capability in preventing them in the first palce.