First Abandonment

[boblardo]

Today I had my first abandonment it wasn't something I wanted to do but was left with no choice

Team A v Team B
In the first half a Player from Team A was sent off for serious foul play, he took exception to a tackle which I deemed not to be a foul and kicked an opposition player, a number of players from both teams reacted aggressively by shouting and grabbing each other. It took a couple of minutes for the situation to calm down at which point I called over both captains and told them that that sort of behaviour is unacceptable and any repeat will result in the match being abandoned. I then called over Team A player and sent him from the field of play.

I then had to book another player from Team A for a tackle, a Team B player took exception and sprinted the length of the pitch to protest and he shouted at the team A player. The team B player was cautioned for Aggressive Attitude

as the 1st half closed another team A player was cautioned for dissent (had a poor attitude throughout making sarcastic comments and i had hit my limit)

In the 2nd half the match was delayed in the 60th minute due to injury which required an ambulance to be called. It was a strong but fair challenge but unfortunately the player twisted his knee.After a period of around 20/30 minutes, once the player had been removed from the pitch both teams agreed to continue the match, with both sides making subs. After the restart I had to speak to a team a player was pressing peoples buttons and I had to speak to him on two separate occasions and warned him of his future conduct and behaviour.

In the 75th minute I awarded a freekick in favour of aforementioned player and as I lined up the wall, a Team A player approached me and it was while I spoke to this player that further altercations occurred. It was unclear what happened but with a number of players confronting each other and the Team B skipper on the floor, I decided to abandoned the match in the 75th minute.

As the I left the pitch the tensions were still high with players still arguing and as they made their way off the pitch I saw the Team B skipper floored again although it was unclear who punched him

I felt the only course of action was to abandon, i guess the question i have is around the delay due to injury. I assume its fine to restart the game assuming all in agreement?

 

[lincs22]

In answer to your question about the injury, you should always restart unless a team is in distress, not asking their agreement. Just a technical point, but worth remembering.

On the abandonment, you will need to explain to the league. The question you will be asked "did one team cause the abandonment?" as they will be charged for it. If it was just you did not feel able to control, explain this.

Some games just have to be abandoned to protect everybody.

Given you description, you have done the correct thing. Did the players all accept the abandonment?

 

[Padfoot]

Another technical point....the first player dismissed....if he has reacted to a tackle and kicked his opponent, I would suggest that it is violent conduct and not serious foul play.
Also, should have dealt with the dismissal before talking to captains etc.....if you get the player off promptly, you will help calm the situation quicker as players will see that you have taken action.

If you haven't seen what happened, what was the reason for abandoning? Not saying you were wrong in doing so, just curious in the decision making process.

Once the decision to abandon is taken, unless there is an imminent risk to your own safety, you should be hyper-vigilant for further misconduct as players may feel they have nothing to lose.
Given that the Team B skipper had already been assaulted once, I would be keeping a close on him to see if he goes seeking revenge or is singled out again.

What age group was this?

 

[boblardo]

Thanks for the feedback guys, this was Open Age

Most of the players thought the decision was correct and both managers shook my hand after the game and agreed also

The blame for the abandonment clearly falls at the feet of a single player, even his own manager took exception to his behaviour.

 

[Padfoot]

Thanks for the feedback guys, this was Open Age

Most of the players thought the decision was correct and both managers shook my hand after the game and agreed also

The blame for the abandonment clearly falls at the feet of a single player, even his own manager took exception to his behaviour.

What did this player do?

From your original post, it wasn't clear that any particular action led to the abandonment?

 

[boblardo]

Apart from his general demeanour and attitude which was questionable at best his behaved terribly

The first occasion I had to speak to him was after a bit of handbags as he walked away from the opponent he made a head butt gesture. I told him that behaviour like that is unacceptable me and he either improves or will end up leaving the field

2nd incident, after a corner the gk has the ball I am positioned on one side of the pitch just outside the penalty area as the player runs out of the box there was a tangle of legs, it could have been a trip but there were alot of legs in front of me. The player gets up and starts being bully big ********, I again speak to him Along with the captain stating no more, final warning

His attitude didn't change and he was involved in the altercation which saw team b skipper on the floor

My decision to abandon was made as I felt the situation and incidents werr escalating

 

[boblardo]

I was fortunate enough to have another referee at the game and he agreed that abandoning the game was the correct decision

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Job done bar the reporting. Good luck with that. Get someone else to read the reports before you press send (if it's not too late for that)

 

[ref craig]

What you could of done bob is on that player making that headbutt gesture was caution him for aa if you did not already as that might helped congratulations anyway on handling the situations that happened as well as you did

 

[boblardo]

Job done bar the reporting. Good luck with that. Get someone else to read the reports before you press send (if it's not too late for that)

I have drafted out the report it would be great if someone could give it a read through before I send it

 

[Brian Hamilton]

If you have a mentor that is their role. If not then send it to me via PM

What you could of done bob is on that player making that headbutt gesture was caution him for aa if you did not already as that might helped congratulations anyway on handling the situations that happened as well as you did

You don't caution for an attempted head butt. It's a dismissal

 

[boblardo]

Just to clarify;

The player made the head butt gesture but was far enough away from the player for it to be testosterone fuelled bravado.

Had it been close enough to another player as an act of aggression he would have been shown a red card

 

[Brian Hamilton]

For the benefit of others, the report was about 20 lines too long and left a lot of gaps for both clubs to drive a coach and horse through. This is no reflection on @boblardo and is just down to a lack of support and experience. I've helped re-write it.

 

[ref craig]

That was good I was like this aswell but all I know now is try keep it short sweet and to the point

 

[boblardo]

Just wanted to publically thank Brian for helping me out

To be honest that should be extended to a number of members on this forum, who have offered both opinion and constructive feedback

 

[Brian Hamilton]

The Forum at its best

 

[HoofItYouDonkey]

Great.
Referees assume that the more they write, the more convincing it will be.
Actually the opposite is true.

 

[Kes]

Just a wanted to publically thank Brian for helping me out

To be honest that should be extended to a number of members on this forum, who have offered both opinion and constructive feedback

The Forum at its best

Nice one chaps.

Admin, is it not now time we had a "group hug" smiley?

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Just to update everyone, sometimes brief is too brief and the County FA asked for more info. boblardo kept his responses short and sweet and matters are now progressing.

A - Accurate
B - Brief
C - Clear