The Ref Stop

Punishment for referee assault

The Bstard

The Bstard

Active Member
Let's play a game.

Some of you may recall that I was assaulted in February. Here's the link, to remind yourselves. Basically, I abandoned a match in the 90th minute after a mass confrontation and, as I was walking back to the dressing room, was pushed over by a player.

Having reported this, I never heard from my county FA. So I emailed them, about this and another match I abandoned this season following a threat of an assault (I sent someone off, and got: 'You wait until after the match. I'll ****ing knock you spark out'). What I wanted, simply, was to know their punishment.

So let's play a game. Take a stab in the dark. Go on.


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Player 1 (Pushing me over): 6 games and a £75 fine

Player 2 (threat): 2 games and a £35 fine.

Jesus ****ing Christ. And the FAs wonder about why referees give up. So, apart from telling you this, I'd like some advice. How do I change this? How do I make the FA realise what an arse of a decision they've made?

For information, my extraordinary incident report:

Having abandoned the above match due to a mass confrontation, I informed the TEAM A manager of my decision as I walked off the pitch toward the changing rooms. I heard a shout behind me, and turned toward it to find the TEAM A goalkeeper, NAME 1, running a full pelt toward me. He was approximately 5 yards away when I turned. When he reached me, he forcefully pushed me in the chest with both hands, causing me to fall backward. He was dragged away by teammates while I was on the ground, telling me how **** I was and how I was a 'f*cking c*nt'. Having been shepherded to another pitch by a TEAM B player and players from another match, NAME 1 proceeded to come over toward me again shouting and threatening, and had to be dragged away once more.
 
The Ref Stop
It's an absolute disgrace!!
Just imagine what would have happened to you if you would have reacted and sparked him out!!!!

Dont imagine there is much you can do now, personally in future if this happens report the assault to the police and let them deal with that and the FA deal with the other side, no doubt both organisations will let you down!

For my abandonment in April, they got kicked out of the cup, £100 fine (£50 of it suspended), and nothing for the numerous grabs, pokes and pushes on me by 15 grown men. What did i expect to happen about that? Absoultey nothing.
Oh and the threats to break my legs the next time they saw me, this was not even raised, despite it being in my report.
 
You won't like this but... it sounds like they hit the maximum under the circumstances. There are varying degrees of assault, and the CFA rules/laws are written to differentiate these levels. It may also depend on the wording of your report. Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, or more serious injury attract stiffer penalties. Equally if the police became involved this changes matters considerably.

The FA weren't there. They can only pass judgement on the evidence submitted (your report, representations from the player/club).

It doesn't make it right, but they have acted within their own limitations.
 
Tealeaf said:
You won't like this but... it sounds like they hit the maximum under the circumstances. There are varying degrees of assault, and the CFA rules/laws are written to differentiate these levels. It may also depend on the wording of your report. Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, or more serious injury attract stiffer penalties. Equally if the police became involved this changes matters considerably.

The FA weren't there. They can only pass judgement on the evidence submitted (your report, representations from the player/club).

It doesn't make it right, but they have acted within their own limitations.
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Quite correct @Tealeaf The problem with the limitations is that they have been written for transparency purposes so that players, teams and administrators can all be clear about the penalties. It helps standardise the process, takes the heat out of the incident (from an administrator's point of view) and makes it clear what will happen. It is also less costly than having to have a disciplinary board sit for every offence. The more standard offences on the statute book, the fewer hearings have to be held. It means punishments are usually handed out more quickly.

I'm not for one minute suggesting that you should ever over state the consequences of a player's actions however if you state you abandon because you were in fear for your own safety and that of the other players on the field, that can carry more weight than simply saying you abandoned because of the actions of the offending player.

From a personal point of view I don't think the penalties as set out above were strong enough. Although the player has been punished for his individual actions, it is also highly probable that the team he played for were fined and sanctioned.
 
We have standardized sanctions in France too, but they are much, MUCH severe.

For this situation, ie pushing an official + not during the game, the sanction is 18 months at home :)
 
To put this in context, I received a threat of violence and abandoned. Significant ban numbering in a good few months. No physical contact just a dumb mouth attached to a dumb player..

Disgusting that the offender got 6 games.
 
Isn't taking the referees card classed as technical assault on a match official? 182 day ban...
 
I think it ranges from different county's to different leagues as well because if your a referee for Birmingham FA the disciplinary department are pretty good I've been assaulted once and that was my first game And I can also add I've been threatened so it depend on offence
 
Suffice to say I'm incredibly disappointed. My report emphasised the violence and my fear for my safety, as well as the fact that the player not only had to be dragged away while I was on the floor, but also that he came for me again, and had to be pulled away once more.

And so, I ask, what can I do?
 
Like others have said there isn't much more you can do. Your report is good. The more detail you can add to it the better. 6 games is clearly not enough!

My personal opinion about reporting it to the police is that by all means do it if you wish, but don't expect much or anything to happen, especially not quickly. At the minute there are too many crimes and not enough officers to cover them. The only reason that I would report it is invade the player in question was already on a suspended sentence for a similar incident, otherwise not much will happen.
 
I would be informing the cfa of how I feel in a letter to the chief exec. I would also be referencing that you are considering your future due to a lack of support from them and possibly trying to get hold of the French guidelines to send to them as well
 
HullRef said:
Like others have said there isn't much more you can do. Your report is good. The more detail you can add to it the better.
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Provide concise and accurate information. More is not better and trying to add too much provides lots of areas that can be argued.

Stick to facts, don't try and nail them to the cross with long winded paragraphs of unneeded information or interpretations. You only make a rod for your own back. :)
 
Absolutely not surprised.

Most CFA's don't support their referees.......why do you think they discourage you from asking about sanctions dished out?

I had a manager grab hold of me to prevent me leaving the pitch following an abandonment.....got 'severely repremanded' by the CFA'S.......and this is following previous suspensions in previous seasons for that manager.......

Better off getting the police involved immediately.......although they probably won't do much these days.....

Imagine the scenario if you 'defended' yourself though......how long would the CFA ban you for?
 
The future of refereeing depends on referees being supported by FA against violence, threats, abuse etc. The approach to this incident is wholly unacceptable, a ban in the region of one year would still have been lenient (in my personal opinion that is)! When the strictness and inflexibility of guidelines is providing inadequate protection for referees the need for change is obvious and FA's need to put referees first and appeasing clubs/players/managers second. Out of interest which FA was this? (hope that's not a stupid question!)
 
The Bstard said:
Having abandoned the above match due to a mass confrontation, I informed the TEAM A manager of my decision as I walked off the pitch toward the changing rooms. I heard a shout behind me, and turned toward it to find the TEAM A goalkeeper, NAME 1, running a full pelt toward me. He was approximately 5 yards away when I turned. When he reached me, he forcefully pushed me in the chest with both hands, causing me to fall backward. He was dragged away by teammates while I was on the ground, telling me how **** I was and how I was a 'f*cking c*nt'. Having been shepherded to another pitch by a TEAM B player and players from another match, NAME 1 proceeded to come over toward me again shouting and threatening, and had to be dragged away once more.
Click to expand...

The exact same thing happened to me a number of years ago and said player got a years ban, equivalent to around 34 games.

Absolutely shocking the level of leniency shown in your case.

I don't know how it works in England, but I'd highlight your case with your county FA secretary/president. They should be able to send correspondence to the league or association dealing with disciplinary matters, explaining that in their opinion, the level of punishment given to the 'player' was unacceptable, and that the example set here will not deter players from assaulting referees in the future.
 
the walloper said:
The exact same thing happened to me a number of years ago and said player got a years ban, equivalent to around 34 games.

Absolutely shocking the level of leniency shown in your case.

I don't know how it works in England, but I'd highlight your case with your county FA secretary/president. They should be able to send correspondence to the league or association dealing with disciplinary matters, explaining that in their opinion, the level of punishment given to the 'player' was unacceptable, and that the example set here will not deter players from assaulting referees in the future.
Click to expand...
The leagues have no control over the disciplinary process in England. The cases are all dealt with using a prescribed list of punishments set out by The FA. If an incident does not fit one of the standard punishments or there are additional circumstances, then matters are dealt with by a disciplinary board. The board is usually convened at the County FA and is staffed by County FA directors or office holders. This may or may not include the County Secretary or President. Having devolved responsibility for dealing with disciplinary matters to the board, the County Secretary or President is unlikely to step in.
 
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