Assistant "Assaulted" (?)

[Kes]

Saw this the other day. Not sure what match it was or where.
You're the referee - what would you do?

 

[richard ramjane]

crikey, obviously the AR is stepping on the pitch and raising his flag there to alert the ref as to what happened, and the stewards didnt look as though they batted an eyelid , so you would have to fear for your assistants safety. if they can get away with throwing a whole bucket of water, then what else can get thrown....? surely thats an abandoned game ?

 

[MatthewC]

Ideally, I'd want to identify the culprits and have them thrown out. The stewards are facing the crowd so you'd expect them to know who'd done it. Failing that, I can't really see how you'd be able to continue that game fairly. The assistant's going to spend more time looking over his shoulder than watching the game. I guess if it was aiming at that assistant personally, you could always consider switching the assistants around, but not really sure that's going to solve the issue.

 

[Kes]

if they can get away with throwing a whole bucket of water, then what else can get thrown....? surely thats an abandoned game ?

I fear not.
It was a Serbian Superliga clash back in November between Metalac and Partizan Belgrade. The bucket of water was thrown by the Partizan fans and the ref simply played on. The match finished 1-0 to Metalac.

 

[Yampy]

I'm in the middle of a game and my assistant attracts my attention and says "I've just had water thrown over me". I notice he is soaking wet so, the man must be telling me the truth. I'd be calling across the other assistant, blowing my whistle to end the game and going home.
Personally, I'm surprised there's an alternative view given how the voting has gone.

 

[Kes]

Personally, I'm surprised there's an alternative view given how the voting has gone.

There's always the odd rebel or two David.
That's why I covered all possible bases with my poll options.

 

[SM]

I'm off home if that happens.

 

[HRW]

See ya laters.

 

[happy whistler]

Aston Villa v spurs a couple of seasons ago
flare thrown hit linesman on back- match continued- clubs charged afterwards

 

[SM]

I remember that. Right on the head. The Premiership runs on different rules to us mere mortals me thinks.

 

[Padfoot]

So...we're now abandoning for getting wet?

Really?

Identify the culprit, remove from stadium. Play on.

 

[Kes]

So...we're now abandoning for getting wet?

Really?

Identify the culprit, remove from stadium. Play on.

You're so clinically black and white Padders. Bravo.

Again, I really think this depends on the scenario in question. Grass roots Sunday league match with 20 non-paying locals looking on and doing something like this - game over for me.
This was a top level match in Serbia though with several thousand paying spectators present. Unless the assistant referee insisted that he felt unable to continue, then to continue the match is a no-brainer. Calling a match like that to an abrupt halt would no doubt result in uproar and be a seriously bad career move for the ref that called it.

 

[SM]

Nah. He's a professional forum troll. Back under your bridge padders

 

[Padfoot]

Nah. He's a professional forum troll. Back under your bridge padders

Well, somebody on this place has to be professional....might as well be me!

 

[SM]

Genuinely funny. Well played sir

 

[zarathustra]

To be honest, for me to abandon I would have to take into account a few factors:
1 - The most important, is the assistant happy to carry on?
2 - Was it just water, or was there something more unsavory in there?
3 & 4 - How long is left of the match and what is the weather like? If there is only a minute or two left I'd consider continuing. If it was winter and there was a large portion of the game left then I would be more on the abondonment side. Standing in the freezing cold in a soaking wet shirt for anything longer than a couple of minutes is seriously bad for your health, and I'd rather the fans get annoyed that a game is abandoned, or paused (if the assistant has a spare dry kit to change into), than risk my assistant going down with hypothermia.

 

[Kes]

Standing in the freezing cold in a soaking wet shirt for anything longer than a couple of minutes is seriously bad for your health, and I'd rather the fans get annoyed that a game is abandoned, or paused (if the assistant has a spare dry kit to change into), than risk my assistant going down with hypothermia.

That thought did occur to me at first, but to be honest, you could then argue for abandoning a match after or during a prolonged downpour.

 

[zarathustra]

That thought did occur to me at first, but to be honest, you could then argue for abandoning a match after or during a prolonged downpour.

It did to me, but to me there is a difference between getting soaked during a down pour where the officials, players and possibly spectators are all in the same boat, and getting unexpectidly soaked via a bucket of water.