A&H

Red card-where to send the player?

joe cunningham

joe cunningham

Well-Known Member
Hi all,
Been thinking about this the last couple of days. I referee in a youth league so most games I ref can vary from u7 to u15. If I was to send a player off where would I send them to? Most pitches don't have changing rooms or anything so apart from sending them to the sideline where else could they go? Also, if i was to send them away from the vicinity of the FOP, would this not be a safeguarding issue considering their age?
 
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In my eyes, the safeguarding issue only becomes your issue if it is cannot be reasonably dealt with by the club i.e it's a junior team with a coach and players and that's it. If there is the ability for it to be resolved, the issue is that of the club's.
 
YorkshireReferee said:
In my eyes, the safeguarding issue only becomes your issue if it is cannot be reasonably dealt with by the club i.e it's a junior team with a coach and players and that's it.
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So if this was the case, would it be acceptable for the dismissed player to stand on the sideline?
 
joe cunningham said:
So if this was the case, would it be acceptable for the dismissed player to stand on the sideline?
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If it was me, personally, and this is incorrect law, if it's a 12 year old kid and there literally is no-one but the manager, I would allow him to stay near to the pitch but report the issue to the league. I very much doubt the situation would arise though, I've never had a situation where this could arise when I used to do junior games in terms of the amount of people present.
 
YorkshireReferee said:
In my eyes, the safeguarding issue only becomes your issue if it is cannot be reasonably dealt with by the club i.e it's a junior team with a coach and players and that's it. If there is the ability for it to be resolved, the issue is that of the club's.
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Wrong. You as the match referee have a duty of care to each & every player for the duration of the time you're in charge
 
Padfoot said:
Only whilst on the field of play.
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No, you've dismissed him from FOP, but still have the same duty of care within your responsibility as the match official.

YorkshireReferee said:
If the club have the ability then my duty of care has ended when I have handed the player over to them.
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Correct, but you have to know for certain they do. Has the club welfare made themselves known to you? Were you able to confirm that they are the welfare officer? Are they specifically in attendance at your game, or just in general at the facility? Too many maybes around, cover your own back!
 
DanCohen17 said:
No, you've dismissed him from FOP, but still have the same duty of care within your responsibility as the match official.


Correct, but you have to know for certain they do. Has the club welfare made themselves known to you? Were you able to confirm that they are the welfare officer? Are they specifically in attendance at your game, or just in general at the facility? Too many maybes around, cover your own back!
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Once a player has left the field of play responsibility for their welfare is the clubs, not yours.

If the player decides to walk away and sit by themselves in the car park, that is the clubs problem to deal with not yours.

As a Club Welfare Officer I can assure you that the duty of care is 100% on the club in those circumstances.

As a referee you are responsible for the management of the game, and the only time your responsibility extends to players off the pitch is if they are committing misconduct or otherwise disrupting the game.
 
Here in Ontario, there are some levels of competition (ie, younger youth), where the rules of competition are allowed to dictate that the player may stay in/near the technical area after being dismissed, unless the player's parent or guardian is present. If that person is present, then the player must leave the vicinity of the field of play. The coach is responsible for notifying the referee as to whether someone is the appropriate parent or guardian.

Can players still cause some grief when this is allowed? Certainly.

Edit: Missed coach's responsibility when it comes to parent/guardian identification
 
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I completely agree with @Padfoot - the implications otherwise would mean that you need to verify that a coach / manager that is the "responsible adult" for the team has got a valid CRB (or whatever the "modern" term is), a valid emergency aid certification, and is current on their child protection. Do we ever do this? No, of course not.
 
Assuming that a parent/guardian is present (which most are U7-15) then they're off home.

If not, I don't believe you should allow a young person to wander off on their own, so unless they're causing me or anyone else any extra grief, better for them to stay.
 
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Unless he's causing trouble, let him stay. If he's causing trouble and the club can't take him elsewhere, collect the match fee and head home. It's not ideal, but it's sensible.

Edit: obviously report the fact the club couldn't take him elsewhere after he was sent off
 
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