The Ref Stop

One foul resulting in chaos...

Hi all. Need some advice on how to deal with this situation. I refereed my sons U11 game at the weekend. A very competitive game, a few little niggles from a couple of players who I spoke to but nothing too serious. My sons team goes 4-2 ahead with only a few minutes remaining, the opposition are getting a little frustrated and the tackles are getting a bit more robust. A foul is committed by the opposition which looked worse than it probably was and a player is down hurt, I blow for a free kick. Parent of the injured player totally loses his cool and sets off on a tirade of abuse from the touchline. Not at me, it was aimed at the player who committed the foul and coaches of the opposition accusing them of encouraging dangerous play. Our coach is trying to restrain him, the opposition coaches get involved and it's all a bit chaotic. Amongst all the choas my watch is buzzing for the end of the game, the players are also getting a bit restless and starting to taunt each other. Tempers are still frayed so I decide to blow the full time whistle which was probably the wrong thing to do as the game had technically not ended. I was concerned something worse might happen if we re-started. After the game and later in the afternoon, our coach informs me he has spoken to the opposition coaches, apologising for the behaviour of the parent and that they are are OK with it and they wont be taking anything any further. The coach has also informed the club welfare officer who has made note of the situation but wont take it further unless it's raised as an issue by others. How should I report on this if at all? I feel a little awkward as it's a parent from my own sons team so if I report it will it have repercussions? As far as our coach is concerned it's dealt with and the matter is closed so do I just put it down to a one off incident and move forward or should I definitely report on it?
 
The Ref Stop
Amongst all the choas my watch is buzzing for the end of the game, the players are also getting a bit restless and starting to taunt each other. Tempers are still frayed so I decide to blow the full time whistle which was probably the wrong thing to do as the game had technically not ended. I was concerned something worse might happen if we re-started.
Not the wrong thing to do - absolutely the right thing to do. Nothing to be gained from continuing for another minute or two. Good decision
 
As others have said, this definitely needs to be reported. As @RefJef said also, blowing the full time whistle was 100% the correct course of action, for the same reason you don't add 10 minutes when a team is losing by 10 goals. No one gains anything from carrying on.
 
If you have blown early then that is match abandoned is it not? I know it wasn't the intention but I think that is how it could be viewed. Agree with the others, at that age no parent should be conducting themselves in that manner.
 
If you have blown early then that is match abandoned is it not? I know it wasn't the intention but I think that is how it could be viewed. Agree with the others, at that age no parent should be conducting themselves in that manner.
Yes that was my thoughts on how it could be viewed. At the moment the result stands, things have been smoothed out with the opposition but I'm still going to report it.
 
Well if your watch was buzzing for full time and with the game being 4-2 the free kick wouldn't have changed the result. It is fair to say that the game has ended and not been abandoned.

Also with it being just the individual causing the issue I think he should be the only one to face any punishment from the fa if reported.
 
If you have blown early then that is match abandoned is it not? I know it wasn't the intention but I think that is how it could be viewed. Agree with the others, at that age no parent should be conducting themselves in that manner.
If the 90 minutes was up during the incident I'd say you can get away with just blowing for full time and reporting it as completed. A fracas isn't one of the reasons listed in law 7 for adding on additional time, and no one is going to thank you for restarting the game and it all kicking off again
 
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