Bunniksider
Referees in England
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2009
- Messages
- 357
- Post Likes
- 44
- Current Referee grade:
- Level 6
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.
