Discriminatory comment allegation

[The Gump]

Interesting one today and a first for me.

82 mins into a tight County Cup QF. Award a foul to team A. Start retreating into team B half in anticipation of long FK whilst watching the dead ball. Captain of Team A runs over and tells me he’s heard a homophobic comment made by the offending player to the player he fouled. I’ve not heard any comment at all.

Recently had the ‘dealing with discrimination as an official’ flyer circulated by my county so immediately blew the whistle and time off. Explained to skipper I’d need to stop play, speak to the accused, speak to coaches of both teams and make some contemporaneous notes before we could restart.

Did all that, restarted play and match ended without incident. Spoke to a couple more players after FT and took further notes, spoke to coaches, the complainant and accused and reiterated the process and that I’d have to submit a report post match, then it would be up to the FA. Completed extraordinary report on WGS when I got home.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Anything I should’ve done differently?

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

Interesting one today and a first for me.

82 mins into a tight County Cup QF. Award a foul to team A. Start retreating into team B half in anticipation of long FK whilst watching the dead ball. Captain of Team A runs over and tells me he’s heard a homophobic comment made by the offending player to the player he fouled. I’ve not heard any comment at all.

Recently had the ‘dealing with discrimination as an official’ flyer circulated by my county so immediately blew the whistle and time off. Explained to skipper I’d need to stop play, speak to the accused, speak to coaches of both teams and make some contemporaneous notes before we could restart.

Did all that, restarted play and match ended without incident. Spoke to a couple more players after FT and took further notes, spoke to coaches, the complainant and accused and reiterated the process and that I’d have to submit a report post match, then it would be up to the FA. Completed extraordinary report on WGS when I got home.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Anything I should’ve done differently?

Done as per protocol - well done.
You may consider e-mailing the Competition Secretary or Refetees Appointments person at the CFA also, just as a courtesy.
I have observed at two games where this has occurred. Always difficult to handle as conflicting stories are heard.

 

[The Gump]

Done as per protocol - well done.
You may consider e-mailing the Competition Secretary or Refetees Appointments person at the CFA also, just as a courtesy.
I have observed at two games where this has occurred. Always difficult to handle as conflicting stories are heard.

That’s a relief - thanks Chas. I dropped my FA Ref Developer an email with a copy of my report.

Do you have any idea what happens next or how long it’ll take before they decide if they’re going to take action? Two players said they heard the comment, two (including one player from the team that made the allegation) corroborated the accused account.

If he said it, he absolutely needs to learn the hard way but he was in bits about it afterwards, so I think the wait is likely to have an impact on him.

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

That’s a relief - thanks Chas. I dropped my FA Ref Developer an email with a copy of my report.

Do you have any idea what happens next or how long it’ll take before they decide if they’re going to take action? Two players said they heard the comment, two (including one player from the team that made the allegation) corroborated the accused account.

If he said it, he absolutely needs to learn the hard way but he was in bits about it afterwards, so I think the wait is likely to have an impact on him.

The process is usually quick in discrimination allegation cases; once the charge is processed, will depend on the response from the player and the club.

 

[Ste500]

Well Done.
It will go to County FA who will request both clubs / players for their response and will the decide to charge or not...
In my case I had to be a witness for the County FA in a FA disciplinary hearing. This took around 8 weeks from submission to hearing.
Like you I never heard the comments I just had to explained what happened, who I spoke to etc (most of this should be in your report anyway).

I found out the result (proven) a few days later.

Good Luck!

 

[ASM]

Make sure you keep your original notes etc as they’ll be needed for any potential hearing

Well done on following the process thoroughly and correctly

 

[The Gump]

Thanks everyone - really helpful.

I have kept my notes but it was absolutely peeing it down so they're not exactly comprehensive! Made more detailed notes on car afterwards that I then used to form basis of report.