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RefChat Addict
While I don't disagree with this is what it is and what is expected, i see it to be what the problem is.No two referees are the same. Towards the latter stages of my refereeing I had a very low card count for dissent, but that doesn't mean I ignored it, rather than the players knew me and knew what I would and wouldn't let them get away with. And if they didn't know me the first player to even come close to dissent would get pulled aside to re-iterate the message to all that it wouldn't be happening in that game.
Comparing grass roots to senior levels isn't fair or sensible though. There isn't millions of pounds riding on your Sunday morning game like there is on a top flight clash, and therefore the refereeing will be different. At senior levels you aren't just managing a game, you are managing an event, and that is completely different. Doesn't mean that dissent should be ignored, but how it is dealt with may be different.
We have a cultural issue where ALL stakeholders agree that it is not right, yet they all ACCEPT that it's part of the game. Any referee who continually has four or five yellows for dissent in his/her games (at grassroots) is seen as a poor manager of the game and has very little chance of progressing. And dissent at grassroots will never stop unless it is stopped at televised games.
Stopping dissent needs a holistic approach by all stakeholders. No point putting it in law but referees don't apply it. Or referees punishing it but administrators not support it. Or they support it but players/clubs continue doing it...
IFAB, FIFA, national/county/state and local FAs, clubs, players, referees at all levels, fans and media all have to do their bit and continue to do it to change this culture. Only one or two trying will not work.