Abuse towards referee....

Bunniksider


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Wholly incorrect. We worry about this because it leads referees to decide to do other things with their weekends than put up with rude gits at rugby clubs. That damages the game. It is immaterial whether it happens on the pitch, in the bar or when walking to work the following Wednesday. Your role as the referee extends to any time when anyone wants to beat you up about it - physically or verbally.

From Manchester & District Referee Society's website:

Abuse is defined by the IRB as

... Individual perception of personal degradation be it mental or physical, before, during or after the game, including but not limited to verbal or physical assault, intimidatory conduct or racial or sexual harassment...

Abuse may be from players, coaches, team managers or spectators but Referees must ensure that what they consider to be abusive conforms to the above definition before submitting and Abuse Form to the Society. And they must remember that abuse from a player must also occur off the pitch, after the final whistle (see below).

Referees should also familiarise themselves with the Society Complaints Protocol which is described in detail on Page 21 of the Handbook. Examples of what constitutes grounds for complaint (including Abuse of Officials) are shown in paragraph 4. However, these have to read in conjunction with the provisions of paragraph 5 i.e.:

... It is important to understand that this Protocol will only deal with off the field matters - on pitch incidents must be dealt with under the Laws of the Game.

In short, if a player is shown a Red Card for abuse during the course of the game, this will be dealt with by the County Disciplinary Committee in the normal way on receipt of the sending off form. A separate Abuse form is not to be completed or submitted either to the Society or the County Disciplinary Committee.
 

Lee Lifeson-Peart


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One of the bigwigs in EMRURS is also a bigwig at the club in question. Easier or more difficult to broach the subject?

Either way I advised OBT to report the incident(s) via his Society and let them take it from there.

I had 6 years of refereeing junior rugby and all my worst experiences (albeit not many) as a refereee came from junior matches.

From my conversations with him he appears to have enjoyed the match however it only takes one k**bh**d, one minute to spoil a whole afternoon.
 

FightOrFlight


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This is hardly Ref abuse, just a bloke being rude to you, you had already got changed and were in the club house.

When does your role as the Ref protected by TLOTG end?

Unacceptable, rude, report it, but a lower scale of issue than abuse on the pitch

No matter when or where it happens if you are out on duty in your capacity as a referee you are a Branch/Union official(and a volunteer at that) and should be treated the same. If an elite ref was out doing a HEC game(and being paid for his time) and he was approached by a member of one of the clubs on club property and verbally abused and threatened with violence there would be swift and decisive action taken. As a referee of any grade you are entitled to the same protection.
 

Browner

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Am I the only one who would of jabbed him on the jaw?

A dangerous road to take, that does not help other referees. Stay on the moral high ground, retaliation is a battle we won't win.

So as much as I wanted to , or could!....... I wouldn't.
 

Ciaran Trainor


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Has anyone got a link to a downloadable RFU Referee abuse form please couldn't find one on my own society site nor the RFU site.
One of my friends, 2nd team manager, went away this week with his team, ended up reffing the game and suffered some abuse which, I'm told has him questioning his future involvement in our game.
I don't know the full details yet but would like to have the correct form
thanks
 

Dixie


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One of my friends, 2nd team manager, went away this week with his team, ended up reffing the game and suffered some abuse which, I'm told has him questioning his future involvement in our game.
The biter bit! I wonder if he's rethinking his own touchline contribution?
 

menace


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The biter bit! I wonder if he's rethinking his own touchline contribution?

Exactly what I was thinking. 'Walk in mans shoe..' And all that ..
 

Simon Thomas


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This is hardly Ref abuse, just a bloke being rude to you, you had already got changed and were in the club house.

When does your role as the Ref protected by TLOTG end?

Unacceptable, rude, report it, but a lower scale of issue than abuse on the pitch

I disagree. From the moment of arrival to when you depart any referee should be treated with respect and not abused.
 

andyscott


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Am I the only one who would of jabbed him on the jaw?

Sometimes I wish someone would just slot these dickheads.

I was once a spectator at a game and a referees wife spoke to a member of the supporters who was awfully abusive and said something along the lines of. "If you continue slagging my fella off I will tell him and he will knock F%#k out of you when the game is finished"
He shut up pretty quickly :)

But no they are not worth it, unless extremely threatened and no other way to diffuse the situation.

Usually these people are thick and quite easy to shut up with some quick retort ;)
 
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Daftmedic


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There was a certain degree of humour but I always find bullies tend to back down if challenged.
 

davidgh


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Dixie, Buniksider et al - many thanks for lots of clarification - very helpful stuff

I also didn't realise that this is a young ref and though it doesn't change the law, it makes the reality much harder to swallow

I also agree re keeping refs in the game, I have had a couple of bad cases of abuse and support strong action both by refs and particularly in cases of racial abuse .... call the police! That shuts them up - forever

Book the *******!
 

Browner

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The biter bit! I wonder if he's rethinking his own touchline contribution?

Don't forget, this manager might be one of the "supporters" of referees ........ They're not all blaggards

, the manager of the u15's I coach is 100% pro ref. Even when his output doesn't match our expectation!
 

RobLev

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Exactly what I was thinking. 'Walk in mans shoe..' And all that ..

Should that be "Walk a mile in a man's shoes before criticising him - that way when you criticise him you've got a mile start and he's in bare feet..."?
 

matty1194


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Ok. Fair enough..but don't talk to him nor give the ****** eye contact. If he's at the club house door and is doing that to wait for you and intimidate you and have another uninvited crack at you...then definitely report that.

Menace, why should OBT not hold his head up and walk past him and as OBT stated its the only way in? It is not OBT who needs to keep his head down but more so this idiot and club's blazers would of been swiftly gripped if not forthcoming with this fools details.



On Sunday gone I was asked to video a semi final match in the Borders by the away team, home crowd were very vocal towards the ref about decisions given against their team, including some of their senior blazers who had the rest of the crowd following them in their incessent shouting at the ref.

As im stood in the stand videoing the game and getting sick of the abuse being directed towards the pitch I set my alarm to go off 5 minutes later, I answer my phone and loudly speak into it as though having a conversation. Stated im down watching a game, some of the "assistance" from the stands is utter bollocks though as they obviously dont understand how a ruck or maul works and that they musn't know or dont care about the code of conduct that every club has signed upto. But apart from that the sun is shining and Ive got a beer in my hand and will speak to you later.

The stand after that was a much nicer place to watch the match from after they shut up!
 
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menace


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Menace, why should OBT not hold his head up and walk past him and as OBT stated its the only way in? It is not OBT who needs to keep his head down but more so this idiot and club's blazers would of been swiftly gripped if not forthcoming with this fools details.
You misinterpret what i said. I wasn't suggesting OBT put his head down at all? You can get past people quite easily by looking straight up and ahead and without looking at them in the eye...well at least I've mastered it?
 

davidgh


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Stuartg - I suppose I shouldn't be surprised but this is a really amazing situation, so the Chairman of Cambridgeshire RFU has abused a young referee - absurd - surely the guy MUST resign from his CB position.

UNBELIEVABLE
 

Browner

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On Sunday gone I was asked to video a semi final match in the Borders by the away team, home crowd were very vocal towards the ref about decisions given against their team, including some of their senior blazers who had the rest of the crowd following them in their incessent shouting at the ref.

As im stood in the stand videoing the game and getting sick of the abuse being directed towards the pitch I set my alarm to go off 5 minutes later, I answer my phone and loudly speak into it as though having a conversation. Stated im down watching a game, some of the "assistance" from the stands is utter bollocks though as they obviously dont understand how a ruck or maul works and that they musn't know or dont care about the code of conduct that every club has signed upto. But apart from that the sun is shining and Ive got a beer in my hand and will speak to you later.

The stand after that was a much nicer place to watch the match from after they shut up![/QUOTE]

Nice 1....you're a genius '............., did you consider panning the video camera on them , I suspect that might have curtailed them as well !
 
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matty1194


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Nice 1....you're a genius '............., did you consider panning the video camera on them , I suspect that might have curtailed them as well !

Browner, no unfortunately I did not, however one of the "supporters" asked if the game/ref was being recorded, I replied," Yes, Im videoing the game as a training tool for the referee however his comms set has stopped working so Im having to use the camcorder internal mic from here in the stands for the sound and its really good quality, hears everything from 50m away"

People around me got even quieter after that!
 
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