A&H

What in the hell is this?

The Referee Store
Was going to make a post about similar (though less severe) concerns that I’ve been developing over the past few months. As a season ticket holder at an EFL club I’ve noticed an increase in the abuse EFL officials are receiving from fans and it’s becoming beyond ridiculous. It’s always been pretty bad, but i think only a matter of time before something very serious happens unless there is a clampdown.
 
one said:
This has always been a problem. Never gone away. The bigger problem is the ingrained culture of "if you can't handle the heat, you are not built for the job". Even some referees think this. No job or role should ever be expected to handle abuse or fear of assault.
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From grassroots to the elite level, the belief of fans that they can have a go at officials with impunity is getting worse.

Example from last night. I’m mentoring a young crew on a U19 friendly. AR2 correctly keeps the flag down on a possible offside because the attacker in an offside position isn’t interfering with the defender. Parent starts to harass the AR. I step in as the mentor and tell the parent the AR handled the situation correctly and for the parent to cease the comments. He starts yelling at me basically saying the AR is wrong and that he has the right to yell at the officials. The conversation ends when I tell him I’m happy to get the club director to escort him from the facility.

It’s just classic bully behavior. They will yell and do all sorts of things. But when someone starts to give it back, they cower and claim that the officials need thicker skin. What I’ve learned is that once people realize someone is there to back the officials up, they suddenly don’t seem so tough.
 
QuaverRef said:
Should have abandoned the fixture. Sod these ‘let the players calm them down’ nonsense, end the game due to safety fears
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The problem with this is that while football bodies (even referee bodies) back them publicly, in practices the referee ends up on a demotion path in most cases because "he is not made for it". Same culture I mentioned earlier. That's why referee are hesitant to abandon.

We need a culture shift and it has to start from the top. Less talk, more action.
 
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