Friendlies

[Jaylen]

Should referees really be more lenient during friendly matches?

 

[one]

Generally no. But depends on what we are talking about being lenient on. I am ok on letting them get away with some technical indescressions with limits, for example leaving/entering without permission.

 

[RustyRef]

The official answer is no as it is a sanctioned game. Personally I am likely to be lenient on things like SPA in friendlies, and things you can generally manage.

I would usually say at the toss something like I’ll try to keep the cards away but I can’t manage the unmanageable. The worst tackle I’ve ever seen as a referee came in a friendly and the red was straight out.

 

[Gabriel]

No, but if you can manage a situation well without a card, then I would try to. I had a friendly a few weeks back where there was an SPA foul inside 5 minutes. I chose to manage it by just pulling them to one side and making it very clear that if they did it again it would be a caution. In a competitive match, my yellow would have been straight out. However, things like OFFINABUS, VC and SFP must still be treated the same regardless imo.

 

[Archer]

Non-competition match*

 

[NoFoulsAllowed]

.

 

[Viridis1886]

What if they are smiling? Friendly then

Rarely happens. Referee School 101.