Pre season friendly

[one]

And round are round we go around the vicious cycle of referee abuse and the culture of its part of our job to accept it. You should not accept referee abuse at any level. It is the culture that we, as a whole football community referees included, have developed that makes us think we have to accept it at higher levels.

the most important thing here is to figure out why it is that you missed the handball

For me that is the least important things out of the OP. He got the most important ones spot on. Don't get those right and you wont last too long as a referee and better skills in handball recognition would be of no use.

 

[markref]

Either way, the most important thing here is to figure out why it is that you missed the handball and work on that in your next game. Was your positioning correct? If not, how can it be improved? Was it your concentration that was lacking? In other words, how can you get it right next time?

Do we know for certain that there even was a handball? Players round here have no idea about what handball actually is - although after the latest from IFAB I'm not sure I do either! Improved positioning may help "get it right" but it may not have been wrong. The OP is about abuse as a result of a perceived mistake. Even if the decision is totally right if a player disagrees with it he may abuse the Referee.

I had exactly the same thing last season after I dismissed a player for a shocking challenge. He thought he was unlucky to be cautioned - I felt he was fortunate not to be going to court! I sent him, but he stayed on the sidelines and refused to go. I should have abandoned and didn't, even though I have done so on several occasions, because I felt I could manage the situation without doing so. I made the wrong decision in not abandoning, because in doing so I condoned the player's action and made it harder for other referees, such as the OP. Had I abandoned he would have been charged with causing abandonment rather than just continued misconduct.

On this occasion I was five yards from the incident with a clear and unobstructed view. My positioning and my decision were totally correct. The player disagreed very vocally, even though as I sent him the player removed his shin pad to look at the gash the foul had caused right through it. The mistake I made, unlike the OP, was not abandoning.

 

[CanuckRef]

We do not know, for sure, that there was a handball. The OP thought it was a header, the defender admitted he had handled the ball. That in itself doesn't mean that the player was guilty of handling the ball, but it means there is room for doubt. Room for doubt indicates something went wrong. Something going wrong indicates an opportunity to develop, grow and improve. Being wrong does not justify abuse; but there is nothing you can do to control whether or not one fella is an arse. What you can do is try to control the things you can, and that's why that is the most important thing going forward.

 

[markref]

We do not know, for sure, that there was a handball. The OP thought it was a header, the defender admitted he had handled the ball. That in itself doesn't mean that the player was guilty of handling the ball, but it means there is room for doubt. Room for doubt indicates something went wrong. Something going wrong indicates an opportunity to develop, grow and improve. Being wrong does not justify abuse; but there is nothing you can do to control whether or not one fella is an arse. What you can do is try to control the things you can, and that's why that is the most important thing going forward.

I agree with your post up to the last comment. Still don't agree the most important thing going forward in a situation like this is to control what you do. Yes, your positioning may help defuse a situation before it develops, but as you say "there is nothing you can do to control whether or not one fella is an arse" Learning how to deal with this is the most important thing going forward on this occasion. because you will certainly come against this guy from time to time. There is not a right or wrong answer about whether to abandon, because each situation is different.

I don't know how the game is run in Canada, but here we're often on our own. I have had games where the game has kicked off like this and there really is nothing you could have done to prevent it.

One game the groundsman tried to put me in with the home team to get changed, which I will never do. On this occasion I had three home players off, including the goalkeeper, who again refused to go. On this occasion I continued the game for my safety because I felt abandonment would cause them to attack me. (I'm 6'5" and built like a tank, but I'm not stupid. There are more of them than me and I'm not sure how many are carrying something they could use as a weapon!) Not doing so allowed me to slow the game down and calm them down before the long trudge back. The walk back to the dressing rooms was intense but I made it ok even though there were a lot of comments / threats. I then got changed in a toilet cubicle, but at least I was on my own.
This came about because the GK claimed to have saved the ball, when I was close enough and with the right angle to see it had crossed the line. He therefore called me a "F***ing Cheating C**t" and was annoyed when I sent him off. If anything you could say that the fact I had a great position actually caused the incident!

 

[Chrisp72]

If they're stood at the bench the whole game, then they are either team officials or don't belong there. Either way, he has to move or be removed.

I will say that I agree with James -- the higher up you go, the more you're going to have to simply accept this kind of thing from spectators. Note that this is not the same for players or team officials, who cannot be allowed to behave this way. Either way, the most important thing here is to figure out why it is that you missed the handball and work on that in your next game. Was your positioning correct? If not, how can it be improved? Was it your concentration that was lacking? In other words, how can you get it right next time?

maybe there wasn’t an handball ? Some players said they saw it , others closer to me agreed and said they didn’t ?

 

[Big Cat]

Ones named on the team sheet if team sheets are available. If not, ones in the 'technical area' (supporters will probably be on the other side of the pitch).

The new Law states the following;
Where an offence is committed and the offender cannot be identified, the senior team coach present in the technical area will receive the sanction.
Whilst this statement is directly below the header TEAM OFFICIALS, it is not explicit that the offender must be a team official
I think you're probably right however because the book is ambiguous throughout. From my experience (with/without team sheets), it's important to identify who's who during the meet & greet. At least first names and roles matched to faces

@RefJef 's football psychology lesson was spot on. Just like the sun rises every day, it's equally predictable how the pack of hyenas will behave when the ref starts bleeding. Snapping at one another is far less interesting than tormenting the vulnerable common enemy
Edit: an analogy that I've used before, but we'll all experience it every season to a greater or lesser degree

 

[Big Cat]

maybe there wasn’t an handball ? Some players said they saw it , others closer to me agreed and said they didn’t ?

If you felt that you missed a KMI, reflect, learn and then forget. Politicians speak more truths than footballers, so ignore what got said

 

[CanuckRef]

I agree with your post up to the last comment. Still don't agree the most important thing going forward in a situation like this is to control what you do. Yes, your positioning may help defuse a situation before it develops, but as you say "there is nothing you can do to control whether or not one fella is an arse" Learning how to deal with this is the most important thing going forward on this occasion. because you will certainly come against this guy from time to time. There is not a right or wrong answer about whether to abandon, because each situation is different.

I don't know how the game is run in Canada, but here we're often on our own. I have had games where the game has kicked off like this and there really is nothing you could have done to prevent it.

One game the groundsman tried to put me in with the home team to get changed, which I will never do. On this occasion I had three home players off, including the goalkeeper, who again refused to go. On this occasion I continued the game for my safety because I felt abandonment would cause them to attack me. (I'm 6'5" and built like a tank, but I'm not stupid. There are more of them than me and I'm not sure how many are carrying something they could use as a weapon!) Not doing so allowed me to slow the game down and calm them down before the long trudge back. The walk back to the dressing rooms was intense but I made it ok even though there were a lot of comments / threats. I then got changed in a toilet cubicle, but at least I was on my own.
This came about because the GK claimed to have saved the ball, when I was close enough and with the right angle to see it had crossed the line. He therefore called me a "F***ing Cheating C**t" and was annoyed when I sent him off. If anything you could say that the fact I had a great position actually caused the incident!

I think you've slightly missed my point. My point is that if you want to be the best referee you can be, then you should focus on outcomes you can control. If you're in the right position, make the right decision, and someone kicks off then there's nothing you can do but deal with that situation properly. My job isn't to make sure players don't kick off; my job is to make sure I am in the best position to make the best decision possible.

 

[CanuckRef]

maybe there wasn’t an handball ? Some players said they saw it , others closer to me agreed and said they didn’t ?

Right, I agree, and the fact that you don't know for sure if there was a handball or not is exactly what you should reflect on. Why were you unable to determine if a handball had occurred? Were you wide enough in your position? Were you close enough to play? Too close? The issue in this match, for me, is not whether you should have abandoned the game--that is an easy decision and you took the correct one--but whether or not a handball led to a goal being allowed that should not have been allowed. That's the major decision, the key decision, that you should reflect on. Another example: Howard Webb, 2008 European Championship. He calls a penalty against Poland in the 90th minute or so for tugging a shirt on a corner kick. The decision was correct. Obviously, the Polish supporters, players, and manager went mental and pandemonium ensued. UEFA determined that this was not a controversial decision, and was not incorrect; that being said, the Polish goal was incorrectly allowed despite being offside. This was the key decision that the team got wrong. This is why the team went home. The reaction of others, in other words, is not what to focus on. Focus on the decisions you got wrong and focus on the decisions you got right and, above all, focus on the ones you weren't quite sure about. That's how you'll improve.

 

[one]

I think you've slightly missed my point. My point is that if you want to be the best referee you can be, then you should focus on outcomes you can control. If you're in the right position, make the right decision, and someone kicks off then there's nothing you can do but deal with that situation properly. My job isn't to make sure players don't kick off; my job is to make sure I am in the best position to make the best decision possible.

Your job is to contribute to a positive environment where your personality and game/player management protects the image of the game. You have to be proactive as well as recitative (prevent undesirable outcomes but if they do happen, deal with them).

In the OP if he had not dealt with the abuse, he would have failed one of the KMI's in our assessment form.

"there's nothing you can do but deal with that situation properly". Isn't that doing something about it?

 

[Mada]

If you can't be sure then you can't give the decision. I'm inexperienced but learnt quickly that you can't guess, interpret or anticipate things happening.

No one should be abused like that for doing their job. You gave the spectator and the manager the opportunity to remove themselves and they decided not to. Now the CFA should deal with it based on their protocol.

 

[Big Cat]

The OP reignites the most significant issue we face as referees. We can endlessly analyse the dirge in the book, the controversy that is VAR and the decisions we see on TV, but it's the caveman culture in football which really gets our attention and makes the job so challenging
I get the feeling that @Chrisp72 is a decent chap who was left offended and soiled by an experience which is a million miles from uncommon
Most of us will face something similar on occasion, so we're either all sh1te referees or the players and managers are wrong in every sense. I've seen it from both sides of the fence because I've been bang out of order on occasion as a player/manager. I think this makes me somewhat more resilient to and expectant of such behaviour. It's very difficult, but we need a means of staying detached from abusive antics because we'll struggle to deal with it effectively if we believe the words and let emotion get in the way of assertion. As I say, very difficult in practise, but a core skill to refereeing

 

[CanuckRef]

Your job is to contribute to a positive environment where your personality and game/player management protects the image of the game. You have to be proactive as well as recitative (prevent undesirable outcomes but if they do happen, deal with them).

In the OP if he had not dealt with the abuse, he would have failed one of the KMI's in our assessment form.

"there's nothing you can do but deal with that situation properly". Isn't that doing something about it?

You're misunderstanding me again. There is nothing often nothing you can do to prevent players kicking off; but if they do kick off, then you can deal with that situation properly and, hopefully, avoid any other players kicking off as a result. And I agree that we are supposed to create a positive environment and manage the game well--that is why I have given the advice I have (i.e.: was there anything more that could have been done to ensure that the correct decision was taken which could have avoided the incident?) I am in no way condoning the action of the player, and I am in no way criticizing the referee in the OP for his handling of that situation. As I have said, I believe he was correct to demand the person be removed and that he was correct to abandon the match when the person was not removed. I am, however, saying that this is not a controversial handling of the situation. What was controversial was whether or not the ball had been handled and I am wondering whether there was anything the referee could have done to have had a better idea as to whether it had or not.

 

[CanuckRef]

If you can't be sure then you can't give the decision. I'm inexperienced but learnt quickly that you can't guess, interpret or anticipate things happening.

No one should be abused like that for doing their job. You gave the spectator and the manager the opportunity to remove themselves and they decided not to. Now the CFA should deal with it based on their protocol.

I agree; which is why I am asking if the referee could have done anything to be more sure about the decision.

 

[Big Cat]

I agree; which is why I am asking if the referee could have done anything to be more sure about the decision.

I get where you coming from. It would be good to know whether it was a HB with a high degree of certainty, as this would demonstrate good positioning, awareness and confidence in a KMI
Arguably however, the opposition might equally have become abusive if the decision had gone against them. In this instance, I think the accuracy of the decision is less important than reflecting on the difficult experience and the adaption needed to better handle an inevitable repeat

 

[CanuckRef]

I get where you coming from. It would be good to know whether it was a HB with a high degree of certainty, as this would demonstrate good positioning, awareness and confidence in a KMI
Arguably however, the opposition might equally have become abusive if the decision had gone against them. In this instance, I think the accuracy of the decision is less important than reflecting on the difficult experience and adapting to be better equipped to handle inevitable repeat

But here is the crux of my point: if he gets the decision bang-on correct, then the opposition going mental is a separate incident. The incident that leads to a decision is a separate one to the reaction to the decision in every case. In the OP, he definitely got the handling of one incident correct (the abuse); he did not get the handling of another incident correct (the alleged handball). I find it is always more helpful to reflect on my mistakes (which in no way means that it was a handling offence, only to imply that not knowing that it was not a handling offence is an error in and of itself) and figure out how I made it than it is to reflect on my successes--especially when my successes are as black and white as dismissal for abusive behaviour.