17 Aug 2010

The role of the referee in football

The World Cup has highlighted the difficulty of refereeing at the highest level and the problems that players can cause for referees with their poor sportsmanship and bad behaviour.

But at Grassroots level, Referees face an even more difficult time. Not just from the players, but from managers / Coaches, spectators and at junior level parents.

The Football Association are running a very powerful campaign called Respect.

Respect is The FA’s programme to address unacceptable behavior in football – on and off the pitch.

On average, thousands of referees quit football every year at because of the abuse they receive from players and from the sidelines. Lots of children also pack it in because of the attitude and actions of over-enthusiastic and pushy parents.

In response, The FA’s Respect programme provides a series of tools for leagues, clubs, coaches, Referees, players and parents from grassroots to elite football to ensure a safe, positive environment in which to enjoy the game.

These tools include agreed codes of conduct; in-service training for Referees, Respect club packs, spectator designated spectator areas and ensuring captains work with referees to manage player behavior.

The FA has also launched a free online Respect Parent Guide to highlight examples of poor behavior and, more importantly, how it can be improved. To access this guide, click on this link http://www.thefa.com/respectguide/

Given that everyone is an expert on refeering, over the next few days we will be posting a series of questions on the blog that will test your knowledge of the rules of the game and maybe make you think how difficult the job of refeering is.