Question Number: 15540

Character, Attitude and Control 5/20/2007

RE: Travel Under 16

Sally of Princeton, New Jersey United States of America asks...

We had a game earlier today and the referee was making lots of bad calls and looking the other way whenever a player on our team was down due to injury. He would also make calls twenty seconds after the foul had happened. My coach was fed up and tried to talk to the referee, and then he got a yellow card. Yeah, we all get them once in a while, but when the game was over, we had all shaken hands, and the ref asked my coach to sign the piece of paper that both coaches have to sign, he refused to because he wanted to ask the ref why he had made all of those horrible calls. Then (this is after the game) the ref pulls out a yellow card and gives him a yellow card and my coach keeps asking him "Why, Why would you not put their safety first?" the ref gives him a red card. Then as my coach is packing up his stuff at his car, the ref took his coaching licence. I want to know if that is allowed, because the second yellow card and red card came after the game was over, and after we had shaken hands. Is the ref allowed to do that after the game?

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Ref Keith makes an excellent point. You might like to consider your audience a little more carefully as you craft your questions. That said... we are certainly capable of handling such remarks, though I hope you realize that your coach's behavior was unacceptable.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Depends on the league. In general, referees are not allowed to show cards to coaches unless your league has a policy that says that they can. The referee can send a coach off the field and/or terminate the match. The referees authority extends until he leaves the field so it is within his right to discipline after the game is over. It sounds to me like your coach deserved an early exit as he was being abusive to the referee. Also, his harrassment of the referee after the game was not necessary and did warrant a discipline action to be taken against him. Whether or not the pass should have been taken is pending on your state organization.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Yes Sally the referee is allowed to discipline members of the technical staff until he leaves the field after the match. The Laws of the Game do not offer him the option of using cards although some leagues demand this. If your coach has a pass, sort of like your player pass, the referee is obligated to collect it and deliver it to the disciplinary committee with his report. This prevents the coach from participating in the next match and any further matches the committee believes necessary.

Now to the "Bad Calls" made by the referee and to his missing players laying on the floor due to injury. I'd be willing to wager the coach was on his case from the first decision he didn't like. Further, the referee, instead of dealing with the coach instantly put on his ear-muffs so he couldn't hear any more and carried on with what he was doing. Further, the statement "whenever a player on our team was down due to injury" leads me to believe this happened more than rarely, sort of like when ever someone felt the need. The referee is only obligated to stop play when a player is seriously injured, if he believes the injury not to be serious he waits for the next stoppage in play.

A coach refusing to sign a document he is required to sign by the league is acting irresponsibly. A coach yelling at the referee and admonishing him for his decisions is acting irresponsibly. Asking the referee about horrible calls is bringing The Game into disrepute.
All of these things require him to be expelled from the technical area without warning.

Another thing Sally, as far as players are concerned referees don't make horrible calls unless spectators and technical staffs convince players they are. As far as players are concerned the call is unpopular and just bad luck because you got caught in foul play. A player concentrating on the referee's "Bad Calls" is a player everyone likes to play because she is off her game.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Sally, when you start off a question to a referee panel bad-mouthing a referee, don't expect a lot of sympathy. There are plenty of player boards available to vent about perceived referee errors. Sounds to me as if your coach needs a refresher course in manners.