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State of the Game - Ref rage
Join the State of the Game debate on the abuse suffered by referees and the damage it is doing.
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Join the State of the Game debate on the abuse suffered by referees and the damage it is doing.
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Comments
Luke Guy (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...
At the end of the day it's not suprising that so many referees are quitting, they are just trying to do a job and most importantly without them we wouldn't have the sport of football. Nothing complicated needs to be done i.e filling in forms saying you will and won't do certain things, it should just be simple that you can't say anything to the ref unless you are the captain, it's simple and it keeps things under control. If anyone breaks this in a negative way by trying to question a decesion or verbally or physically challenges a ref they should be sent off!
Posted 21:42 21st April 2008
Simon Smith says...
Hi all, I am a 16 year old referee who has been referee for about 1 1/2 years now. I have moved into adult football now as it is essential considering I am going for promotion. I personally prefer men's football becuase although the language is worse (not at all directed at me) the players seem to respect you more. Before each adult game I go and have a word with the teams of what I expect. I warn then that if I am sworn at, I will have no problem in cautioning and sending them off. Yet with kids' football, it is not the kids, it is the abusive parents making silly comments of which their kids hear and then they follow their example. At a pre season 5-a-side tournement I had to abandon the game due to the amount of abuse i was getting from a certain manager. This lead to him ASSAULTING me and this resulted in him getting a 82-day ban and a ¿70 fine. To be honest, I dont think it was enough.
Posted 20:38 21st April 2008
Craig Bartlett says...
At youth football level, you need to identify the main cause of the arguments surrounding football. I think that the main reason is the inconsistency of the offside rule, and i think that this rule should be simplified in youth football to a player standing in an offside position, being offside, no arguments. If he is in the offside position and not active, for example walking back from an offside position, he should have both hands raised to notify the officials that he is inactive and can not be passed to. I think that this may address some of the concerns surrounding abuse to referees from both players and supporters.
Posted 20:23 21st April 2008
Richard Parry says...
There are times when comments made by the pundits only confirm that they are not entirely conversant with the laws of the game. Worse they try to justify a foul for example a cynical foul is acceptable as one is taking a "yellow" for the team. Referees do get it wrong but given only 1 chance to see the incident this is hardly surprising. The pundits frequently need several views before they decide. My sympathy is with the referee who is trying to control a game played by 22 players wher the majority if not all participants are effectively cheating by trying to "con" the referee
Posted 20:21 21st April 2008
Jamie Halse says...
I just wanted to note the wonderful clip in the video of Wayne Barnes, the Guinness Premiership rugby referee. Firstly, as an example of how players should react to the referee - "Sir". Secondly, a shining example of how referees can control a game and players, once the right rules/laws are in place and respect is returned.
Posted 20:10 21st April 2008
Mark Hope (Burnley fan) says...
I am actually writing a dissertation at the moment on attitudes towards the referee which looks at verbal abuse directed towards the referee, the perceived role of the referee and what interventions may be put into place to eradicate this disgraceful behaviour and promote the good aspects of becoming a referee. I have looked at the opinions of both referees and spectators and there are three main features in my results: 1) Verbal abuse is commonplace at ALL levels of football, maybe not at every game but it certainly plays its part somewhere during the season. 2) The majority of spectators and referees in my study believe that the situation is worsening with regard to abuse directed towards the referee. 3) A lot of spectators do not understand the laws of the game well enough, which leads to misunderstandings and potentially abuse directed at the referee. With this in mind, I did however discover that referees actually don't think they get as much abuse as what spectators may think. Also, quite frighteningly, I found that some spectators and referees now believe that abuse towards the referee is now a FUNDAMENTAL aspect of the game. In my opinion it is up to the FA to sort this out as well as our so called 'professional' clubs who must assist in supporting referees and holding their hand up to apologise once in a while if the referee is actually correct. As Mr Barwick, Mr Coppell and a whole host of other people have said 'we can learn alot from rugby'. So, Mr Barwick, why not practice what you preach and start reprimanding the idiots who are slowly reducing the amount of referees this country has.
Posted 20:03 21st April 2008
Fancy Dans says...
I just cannot see what punishment can be laid out to a player or players collectively to stop this abuse. Whatever punishment is levied will not affect the player or team, especially in the Premiership. A fine........they are mega rich so no consequence. A booking.... its what they get now........ I think its time we looked at tougher punishments but I just can't see how the F.A. can put them in place. I mean if you take rugby lead..... how can you ban someone for 8 weeks for abusing the ref and ban someone who has been sent off for a straight red for 2 games???? I just can't see the F.A. being big enough to impose anything of any strength.
Posted 20:02 21st April 2008
Mark Rathie (Manchester United fan) says...
I have played football in the Edinburgh leagues for years now and although there is a serious problem with ref abuse, changing the laws of the game is not going to make a huge difference. The problem is the attitude of British society in general - the increase in crime, ASBOs etc all filter down to the football pitch on a Saturday. To sort out this madness, society in general needs to change - from the way parents raise their kids to tougher laws in general. Ref abuse happened 30, 40 years ago but players had respect for other men. I dont think any one will disagree that the attitude and lack of repect shown by people in the last 10 years has change dramatically and unfortunately filtered onto the football pitch. (Why do rugby players not abuse refs? Simply because rugby is still played by a huge number of 'upper class' people who have been brought up properly).
Posted 19:52 21st April 2008
Adam Christie says...
Why not let the player move the ball anywhere in a 10 yard radius of the original spot so he can place the ball further away if the free kick is too close to goal, or further left or right to get a better angle?
Posted 19:39 21st April 2008
Andy Chudleigh says...
Refeering is the most difficult job that anyone could ever do. Whatever happens 11 players will disagree with your decision and let you know. I regularly referee games both junior and senior level and have to admit that it can sometimes be very hard work. I tell both captains at the start of the game that I may make a mistake or give something against them that they might not agree with but they must accept my decision. I tell them that if they want to ask what that was given for I will answer anyone but any foul and abusive langauage directed at myself will result in a red card. This appears to work and I have only had to send off 2 people for this so far this season.Players must learn that once you give a decision that is it there is no changing of minds. Each ref sees things differently and you won't change this but if there were no refs then football would ot be played. My advice is cut the refs some slack and accept the decision. refs make far less mistakes than players so be thankfull you have someone in the middle letting you play!!!
Posted 19:31 21st April 2008
Ronan Mc ivor says...
i think that football should follow rugby's example and use video technology. This would create a higher amount of correct decisions and would also prevent off the ball incidents from going unnoticed by the referee. It would also prevent controversies over penalties and handballs and this would decrease the amount of abuse towards referess significantly.
Posted 18:18 21st April 2008
Kundi Zata says...
I think it is unacceptable for top players to give the ref a mouthful over a decision as if he will change his mind about the decision. They get paid a ridiculous amount of money to play football, and football is funded by the fans. They are role models in society and have a direct influence on the behaviour of lower leagues right down to social football. If a player goes off at the ref and uses obcene language the manager should bear the brunt and face a heafty fine for not keeping his palyers in-line, after a few pocket-stinging fines, I'm sure the palyers will behave accordingly, because money is the main concern of all top footballers and managers. Sending the player off the field will ruin the game for the fans who should not have to be punished for the lack of restraint of a player. It is the manager's job description to train, set tactics and enforce decipline on his players, it's high time they started dealing with this issue as refs get paid nothing compared to top managers and players, but they are expected to be perfect in the face of so much at risk in one game, and at the same time exposed to increasing abuse by players. A good craftsman does not blame his tools, if you lose a game and blame the ref, don't delude yourself, you were going to lose anyway because you did not step up to the plate to be counted.
Posted 17:56 21st April 2008
Liam Hatch says...
Since my dad was spat at in the face by a player in 2005 and my I was viciously attacked by a player in 2006, I went public with the "Respect the Ref" campaign. There have been many assaults and abandoned games due to violent conduct. In rugby, the ground rules are set and the mindset of players, coaches, managers, spectators and anyone connected with the game is about respecting the game and particularly match officials. The role models on TV including studio pundits, have an absolute duty to respect officials' decisions instead of the trial by camera operated today. Until the role models are showing respect for the game and match officials, anti-social behaviour at matches will not significantly decrease. In rugby, zero tolerance is the name of the game and it works. There have been zero assaults on match officials in rugby because the punishments and deterrants are in place, which work. If every single violent event was recorded in all football matches, it would be a horrific reflection of the state of our game. I have written to H.M the Queen, the patron of the FA, to tell her about the massive effects that the events we have experienced at games of football has had on me and our family. If there are less match officials, the game will spiral into total decline, new football talent will be surpressed and we will never win anything at national level.
Posted 17:38 21st April 2008
James Craven says...
Whatever happened to the code of respect for officials in any sport? Even in baseball, if the umpire doesn't like your tone of demeanour, you get ejected faster than a detainee at Gitmo. Any official in any sport - be it soccer (football), basketball, rugby, gridiron (American football), etc., - they are to be respected.
Posted 17:34 21st April 2008
Matt Hull says...
I am a 15 year old referee, and find that even some of the youth games I referee have an unnacceptable amount of dissent to deal with. The parents are also disgraceful, the amount of abuse you recieve as a referee is ridiculous. In regard to the few comments about moving the ball 10 yards, I actually agree, because no, it wouldn't punish the player, but it has the potential to punish their team, because it increases the chances of the other team scoring. Also, to punish the player themselves, they should be cautioned regardless of age as this is the only way the players will learn. Lastly, the idea on only captains speaking to the referee is a great idea because the referee can keep control of the game instead of being distracted by players who are continually complaining about previous decisions.
Posted 17:12 21st April 2008
Robby Bell says...
Showing respect is a major part of how both the referee and players react, but also the nature of the player is what decides what respect if any is shown, they are wanting to prove to their team mates that they dare stand up for themselves because it's the only time they can do this, but the bigger person walks away. The way in which the referee reacts to the incident also decides how the players react - it's a 1 to 1 basis and to get respect you must show it.
Posted 17:03 21st April 2008
Mark Harland says...
I think moving the ball 10yards up the pitch is wrong. First of all - how is that punishing the player? Plus most of the players would prefer abit of distance to get the ball up and over the wall so at some point your going to end up punishing the other team. Its simple to sort this out - book the player for disent, if he keeps going again book him and send him off. If his mates come over and crowd the ref and start having ago book them, if they keep going book them and send them off. It will only take one game to end because there isn't enuf players on the pitch to stop it. Just be consistent - refereeing at the top end is very very inconsistent - and thats because there are so many laws now that are not black & white. Just book the player, and again and again and again until the message gets through.
Posted 16:15 21st April 2008
Dave Morey says...
I really don't think that a player should get a straight red for dissent. I agree that it needs to be stamped out, but thats taking it too far. I'd love to see a sin bin style system where its something like 5 minuets on the sidelines for the first act of dissent and it increases by 2 mins for every other act in that game. Then if a player gets maybe 3/4 Sin bin periods in a month they serve a 2 match ban. Also ref should record everything that's said like in rugby, thats probably the best short term option as then the FA can ban based on what was said, rather than just the banket term of dissent.
Posted 15:52 21st April 2008
Alec King says...
I agree with the official, Paul. I coach a soccer school and an under 8s team. At our club we have a code of conduct laid down for coaches, parents and players. We try to teach our players to respect the decisions of the ref, but it is almost impossible considering the abuse that these kids see superstars giving officials every week. These high profile players should be setting the example. The officials are addressed correctly in other sports, and back chat is minimal, the ten yard rule, when implemented correctly seems to do the trick. But what happened to the days when players were booked for dissent. This is far worse offence that a player taking his shirt off to celebrate a goal. I do believe there is a professional players code of conduct and all players should be reminded of this, failure to do so, is a breach and the FA & premier league should hand out match bans to players not adhering to that code. That way, maybe the players would show officials more respect, and let the officials do their job properly.
Posted 15:31 21st April 2008
Mike Blackburn fan says...
I agree with the 10 yard upfield thing at free kicks. This could also apply to throw-ins? (just as vital sometimes). I'm 16 and I referee under-10 games and the abuse I get is unbelievable! The players of the modern proffesional game (especially in the top 4) are pathetic! They are on a pedestal, overpaid and over-pampered so they should at the very least set a good example to the younger football lovers such as myself! Refereeing is hard enough without players swearing and diving etc! There's nothing wrong with passionate anger as long as it's contained but any kind of offensive outburst towards anyone else on the field (not just the ref) should result in a straight red card and a 3 game ban! Period!
Posted 15:21 21st April 2008
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