Abuse is the big turn-off


Did you see in the Evening Post recently the latest 'Endangered Species' poster devised by the A Quote Insurance Reading Football League? 

By now copies should be displayed in dressing rooms and clubhouses around the area. The 'endangered species' referred to, in case you hadn't guessed, is referees. The
posters are the idea of league official Phil Lewis and I know that referees in the Reading area appreciate the support that they receive from this league.

Basically the message behind the series of posters is that if you abuse referees, you will lose them. The predominant reason for referees giving up the whistle is abuse from players. Certainly any referee will tell you that what
makes a game unpleasant is continual abuse and sometimes more. 

I recall one referee quitting because of a player spitting in his face after he had given a decision against him. The Reading League are determined that action will be taken against those found guilty of offences against referees at their games.

This type of behaviour is of course not confined to football. A recent survey showed that behaviour and respect for authority have declined generally in society, particularly in the last few years. 'The yob generation' was how a Daily Mirror headline described it and they should know. Football cannot be exempt
but at least it has its own sanctions. Either you play it our way or you don't play at all.

One of the questions posed by the Endangers Species poster is 'Is it correct that a referee can 'red card' a player after the final whistle. A good question because there is a lot of confusion about the powers of punishment by a referee
and what constitutes the referees jurisdiction.

Two different things. The referee's powers to punish players include red and yellow cards. It begins from the moment he steps on to the field of play to start the game, and lasts until he steps off it after the final whistle. That includes any temporary stoppage, ball out of play, half-time interval or extra time. This means that if a player abuses a referee
during that time, even if is it before the kick-off has been taken or after he has blown the final whistle, he can be shown the red card. This also applies to substitutes, even though they may still be 'on the bench'.

A referee's jurisdiction over players and club officials starts the moment he enters the ground. This applies equally whether he is officiating at Highbury or Prospect Park. If a player is abusive to the referee after he has arrived at the
ground but before he steps on the field of play to start the game, or after he has left the field but not the ground, he cannot be shown the red card. 

You sometimes hear in senior games of players being shown the red card in the tunnel after a turbulent match. This can't happen. In these situations the referee will take the players name and then report him/her for misconduct. The
punishment from the FA, fine and suspension, is likely to be the same, or sometimes more severe, than for a sending off.

Incidentally, you also sometimes read of a manager or coach being sent off and shown the red card. This is not something a referee should do. Red and yellow cards are exclusively for players and substitutes. Officials however can
be reported for misconduct and ordered away from the touchline. 

Whilst mentioning officials, it is worth pointing out that criticism of the referee from any official of the club, at any time whilst he is at the ground is misconduct which can be reported. And just to show that it is not only the Reading League that takes action, Oxfordshire FA recently fined a chairman of a club in the county £50 for abusing the referee after the game.

 

Dick Sawdon Smith

 

© R Sawdon Smith 2002

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