So I've been booked to referee a women's league match which should be a walk in the park but apparently there's some tension between the two teams playing tonight as a few players from the one team decided to switch and play for the other one at the very last minute. From what I understand from the assignor who contacted me about it, it is all petty and political but it will lead (and did lead, in their last match) to quite a bit of trouble and ended up having two sendings off in their previous meeting. I wonder if it would be advisable or ill-advised to speak to the effect of the rivalry at the captain's toss and tell the girls I'm not going to put up with their sh*t tonight so they'd better play nice. On the one hand, it could stop something before it starts; on the other, it could inflame things because they know that it is expected that they will play dirty. I might just say something indirect like "let's have a clean game, we're here to play football so let's not get bogged down in bullsh*t." Or some such thing. What's your advice, colleagues?
