Question Number: 21347

Character, Attitude and Control 5/15/2009

RE: Competitive Under 12

Jackson Harris of Abington, Massachusetts USA asks...

Honestly, the fact that I am writing to you right now is insane. I was refereeing a U11 Girls game for a competitive league...and one, as a referee, would not really expect any problems to occur. But obviously the coach decided to offer some advice to me. He yells in a type-of-sarcastic-tone 'Put the whistle in your mouth and do something with it!!!' (There had been no fouls for the first half and the first 10 of the second half and even at the time the coach yelled that, there was no foul. May I remind you, U11 GIRLS!) I went over and yellow carded him for dissent because I am a young referee and many coaches tend to walk over young referees. I try to not let that happen. Usually I'll give a warning, but what he said was out of line and his tone was mean. It is also a league rule to not address the referee at all during the game. I went over and spoke with him and asked him about four times if he understood that he could not talk to me like that. He simply just stood there with his arms crossed with the 'I'm a tough guy' look. I walked away and at the end of the game he came up to me gripped my hand and got closer to my face and told me not to talk to him like that. I told him I am the referee and you are the coach sir. What you said was out of line and against the league rules. I then reported him to the league and the league commissioner told me that they do not have a Zero Tolerance Rule. I said I understand but he broke the following under the coaches code of conduct: do not address the referee at any time during the game and if you want to ask the referee at the end of the game CALMLY. He did not do either of those. I then told him what he said was out of order and dissent. He told me it was not dissent and explained to me that dissent was arguing with a referee's calls. I had a feeling that he was wrong so I checked the 7&7 caradble offenses. I looked up the rule for dissent and, in my opinion, he broke code 2a under dissent.

2a
--Verbally or through action disputes or shows contempt for an officials decision

Please help me clarify if my decision was correct for the commissioner has not satisfied me with an answer of complete thought or reasoning. Also, interpreting dissent...could you better describe other dissent situations. Thank you for your time.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Under Fifa law there is NO ability to caution show a yellow card or send off show a red card to a Coach or a member of the technical staff. What a referee can do is WARN the Coach to stop being unreasonable or Expel him from the field for not acting responsibly by simply telling him and not restarting until he has complied.

The Authority of the Referee
Each match is controlled by a referee who has full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed
.
LAW 5 ? THE REFEREE
? takes action against **TEAM OFFICIALS** who fail to conduct themselves in a **RESPONSIBLE ** manner and may, at his discretion, **EXPEL** them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds
? acts on the advice of the assistant referees regarding incidents that he has not seen
? ensures that no unauthorized persons enter the field of play
? indicates the restart of the match after it has been stopped
? provides the appropriate authorities with a match report, which includes information on any disciplinary action taken against players and/or **TEAM OFFICIALS** and any other incidents that occurred before, during or after the match

Disciplinary Sanctions
-The yellow card is used to communicate that a player, substitute or substituted player has been cautioned.
-The red card is used to communicate that a player, substitute or substituted player has been sent off.
-ONLY a player, substitute or substituted player may be shown the red or yellow card.

Law 12 the 7 cautions and 7 send offs are only for designated player substitute or substituted player discipline. The terms of conduct that a Coach MUST follow are "MUST BEHAVE IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER"
Now many leagues have adopted a non-FIFA by-law policy of referees showing cards to the coaches in an effort to publicly rebuke the intransigent coach and strengthen the courage of the referee to act against by indicating with cards the Coach has been publicly warned caution show yellow or dismissed and must remove himself from the playing field area from the field after being shown the red card.
While I understand the need to bolster a referees courage given adults tend to disrespect youth authority in general I cannot fathom why a CLEAR easy set of ground rules for this abomination are not at least laid out in a CLEAR easily understood manner? If they are to selective cull out the caution aspect from the player codes Cautionable Offences
? unsporting behavior
? dissent by word or action
? persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game
? delaying the restart of play
? failure to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick, free kick or throw-in
? entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee's permission
? deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission

A substitute or substituted player is cautioned if he commits any of
the following three offences:
? unsporting behavior
? dissent by word or action
? delaying the restart of play

and perhaps if they are to selective cull out appropriate send offs
? violent conduct
? spitting at an opponent or any other person
? denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
? denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick
? using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
? receiving a second caution in the same match

You can see that these misconduct applications apply to players even if a coach COULD do some of them So just when do we have to deal with a obtuse, insubordinate, argumentative, irritating Coach? Basically when he starts becoming **IRRESPONSIBLE** as opposed into outright screaming hysteria! Football is a competitive sport full of emotion and passion for the game. We need to be selective listeners at times and understand the difference between letting off a bit of steam "venting" as opposed to ranting and conduct the exacerbates player/fan unrest, match disrespect or endangers the safety of the participants your self included

The technical area relates to matches played in stadiums with a designated seated area for technical staff and substitutes as described below. While the size and position of technical areas may differ between stadiums, the following notes are issued for general guidance:
? the technical area extends 1 m (1 yd) on either side of the designated seated area and extends forward up to a distance of 1 m (1 yd) from the touch line
? it is recommended that markings are used to define this area
? the number of persons permitted to occupy the technical area is defined by the competition rules
? the occupants of the technical area are identified before the beginning of the match in accordance with the competition rules
? only one person at a time is authorized to convey tactical instructions and he must return to his position after giving these instructions
? the coach and other officials must remain within its confines except in special circumstances, for example, a physiotherapist or doctor entering the field of play, with the referee's permission, to assess an injured player
? the **COACH** and other occupants of the technical area **MUST**behave in a **RESPONSIBLE**manner

Your commissioner is a putz, plain and simple if he allows a coach to berate you and then chastises you himself for your having the courage to take action? You do need a backbone to referee and a thick skin allows most of the touchline dribble venting to reflect harmlessly away. If however, your league permits you to SHOW cards to coaches which I am of the opinion is wrong anyways and in fact it is stupid if you do not have CLEAR guidelines to be supported in such cases as you do show them!

No one really enjoys being embarrassed or being involved in ugly confrontations, at least most of us don't. While some low level dissent or an outrageous event in behind play could provoke a response where we might want to heed the warning signs. Most of the time we really are not terribly interested in what Coaches blather on about. . However, if ignoring doesn't work, the USSF approach, of Ask - Tell - Remove, is a 3 step way of trying to help unreasonable behavior settle down into tolerable behavior or at least ignorable behavior. A chirping Coach can be allowed to maintain his dignity in as much respect is garnered by acting like a putz!. You certainly don't have to go through all 3 steps if the verbal diarrhea or actions are intolerable!

League ethics, proper monitoring procedures, training and solid guidelines reinforced by all participants in the league with codes of conduct signed and understood that this is homework that is required BEFORE the season starts so IF things become unglued we have an effective way to put it back and FIX it!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If your league has a policy of showing cards to coaches, you have acted correctly. In fact, with the ongoing comments you received, perhaps you should have dismissed the coach.

When the coach grabbed you after the game and got in your face, he was abusing you.

Obviously your league commissioner is not supportive of the referees. Do you have a local referee association? The next place to go with this is to them and your assignor. If there is no local association, you can contact your State (Youth) Referee Administrator.

Coaches and leagues like this cannot be allowed to continue their verbal and physical abuse. Ref associations and state administrators can talk with the powers that be in the league, and explain that if such actions continue, the league will not be assigned any referees.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

All this aside, the coach PUT HIS HANDS ON YOU after the game. Given that he is an adult and you are not, that sounds like referee assault to me. If your league allows showing cards to coaches you were correct. The commissioner, if what you tell us is true, has his head firmly stuck somewhere the sun doesn't shine. The coach should receive a minimum suspension for putting his hands on you and threatening you. He is the one NOT allowed to talk to you. You absolutely need to be supported in your actions. Go to your assignor. Go to the Mass. Youth Soccer Association. Adult coaches have no business acting in a threatening manner towards ANY referee much less a youth referee. My God! What is your 'commissioner' not understanding about all this? If all transpired as you say and your State Association will do nothing then go directly to US Soccer. This is reprehensible.