Slurs and education

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

Potentially an offensive one but I am censoring each word best I can without losing it's meaning.

I encounter a lot of the slurs listed below when refereeing grassroots (amateur, sunday and county league) games and have got into the habit of giving the benefit of the doubt. i.e. I tell the player if I hear them use it again they'll be off. I am frequently met by bafflement because they simply do not think or realise these words are slurs (or that they have that effect). Not really sure how else to approach it because I am finding even these warnings are undermining me and I'm not sure the average sunday league winger is ready for a lesson on where a slur comes from.

M*ng
R*tard
Sp*z/Sp*ck
Q*eer
Tr*nny
D*wny/ie

Most of these are disability related which is probably the least talked about demographic when it comes to discrimination on the pitch so I understand the lack of knowledge but as someone who became a ref because of an incident with one of these slurs and is disabled, it feels wrong to just ignore it because it happens everywhere else in society.

 

[santa sangria]

I think you could search the forum for a lot of other threads on the same topic.

(#2-#6 are all straight reds in any context for me.)

(Edit - and I've just realised that #1 might be with an "o" not an "i" - in which case, I'm struggling to avoid a red.)

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

Send off. The punishment is usually doubled where any of the protected characteristics (e. g. race, colour, disability, religion, beliefs, age, gender, sexual preferences) are involved.
The players will learn quickly.

 

[LancsReferee]

Yes - all send offs. No question. Any context.

 

[RustyRef]

Yes, and anyone you send off for one of those words will likely be finding themselves with hefty suspensions.

 

[gvu_ref]

I’ve heard a fair few derogatory terms in regards to sexuality in sunday league..

I will warn them if it is said flippantly and explain it’s discriminatory language, and if I hear it twice they can go with a red card.

On the other hand, if it’s overtly aggressive and has sparked emotions then I’ll send off immediately. As I write this I realise how contradictory that is…

I however have overheard this between TEAM MATES, fortunately a chat and a warning stopped it, but found myself trying to manage “EY SWITCH THE BALL YOU Q*EER”… grey area for me sending a player off for discriminatory language towards his so called pal.

 

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

I however have overheard this between TEAM MATES, fortunately a chat and a warning stopped it, but found myself trying to manage “EY SWITCH THE BALL YOU Q*EER”… grey area for me sending a player off for discriminatory language towards his so called pal.

Doesn't matter if they're mates, you don't know if 1. any of those teammates are closeted or 2. any of the other people who hear those comments are LGBT

I find it harder with homophobic language to justify a warning, words like r*tard alot of people don't know the meaning deep down, but everyone knows what Qu*er and F*g mean

 

[Kes]

Doesn't matter if they're mates, you don't know if 1. any of those teammates are closeted or 2. any of the other people who hear those comments are LGBT

I find it harder with homophobic language to justify a warning, words like r*tard alot of people don't know the meaning deep down, but everyone knows what Qu*er and F*g mean

Don't obsess.

If YOU find it OFFINABUS then pull out the red.

If no players verbally/indignantly object to what you hear then let it go.

You're not there to assume what somebody somewhere might think on their behalf. Just referee the match!!

 

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

Don't obsess.

If YOU find it OFFINABUS then pull out the red.

If no players verbally/indignantly object to what you hear then let it go.

You're not there to assume what somebody somewhere might think on their behalf. Just referee the match!!

Would an observer really not pick me up for letting audible slurs go?

 

[Kes]

Would an observer really not pick me up for letting audible slurs go?

The Observer would have to be able to prove:

1. They were definite OFFINABUS offences
and
2. That you had heard them.

 

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

The Observer would have to be able to prove:

1. They were definite OFFINABUS offences
and
2. That you had heard them.

Good to know! I have a pretty zero tolerance attitude to any slurs I hear but appreciate there are contexts where I may hear a player say something and it not be OFFINABUS

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

The Observer would have to be able to prove:

1. They were definite OFFINABUS offences
and
2. That you had heard them.

If I can hear the words from 60 metres away, and the referee is adjacent to the player in question, they have heard it (IMHO)

 

[JamesL]

If I can hear the words from 60 metres away, and the referee is adjacent to the player in question, they have heard it (IMHO)

What if the referee wears hearing aids normally and the voice falls outside their hearing range? Asking for a friend

 

[OnlyUseMeWhistle]

What if the referee wears hearing aids normally and the voice falls outside their hearing range? Asking for a friend

I'm partially deaf and definitely miss a lot of chatter

 

[Kes]

If I can hear the words from 60 metres away, and the referee is adjacent to the player in question, they have heard it (IMHO)

That's just an assumption on your part Chas.

If I were observing and during my debrief asked the referee "Why didn't you send off H5 for OFFINABUS?" and they replied:

1. "I don't believe that's OFFINABUS and nobody complained"
or
2. "Wow" Well I didn't hear that at all, if I had heard (and seen) who said that, they'd have been off straight away"

Then I'd have no business marking them below a 7 on AOL.

 

[ChasObserverRefDeveloper]

That's just an assumption on your part Chas.

If I were observing and during my debrief asked the referee "Why didn't you send off H5 for OFFINABUS?" and they replied:

1. "I don't believe that's OFFINABUS and nobody complained"
or
2. "Wow" Well I didn't hear that at all, if I had heard (and seen) who said that, they'd have been off straight away"

Then I'd have no business marking them below a 7 on AOL.

Last time your quote number 2 was used to me as observer, the player had used really offensive language and a gesture directly to the referee from 2-3 metres away, 15 seconds before the half time whistle.
I stated that to the referee - after watching his body language and expression as I challenged it, I was able to confirm my view . . .

 

[RustyRef]

Remember that the observer is always correct. Obviously we all know that this isn't actually the case, but if they say you heard something then as far as that observation goes you heard it. You can't appeal unless he / she is incorrect in law or the mark doesn't match the written text, saying that you didn't act on something you heard is neither of those things.

I did a supply league observation where a player screamed at the referee you "f***ing useless p***k", the entire ground heard it, including without a doubt the referee as he was right next to the player and looking straight at him, but did nothing. This actually led to a protest by the opposition team as they claimed he had ignored a blatant red card offence and influenced the outcome of the game, and he tried to appeal, very unsuccessfully, his mark from me. He ended up getting charged with failing to proficiently apply the laws of the game.

 

[Kes]

Last time your quote number 2 was used to me as observer, the player had used really offensive language and a gesture directly to the referee from 2-3 metres away, 15 seconds before the half time whistle.
I stated that to the referee - after watching his body language and expression as I challenged it, I was able to confirm my view . . .

In which case, it's a nailed-on DV for AOL.

The OP's thread isn't really talking about the clear and obvious though mate.