Only captains are permitted to talk to referees next season
-
FA CALL OFF THE POSSE
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard
The Football Association are set to sanction a revolutionary new rule that will mean only team captains are permitted to talk to referees next season.
The change will apply across the entire game in England and signals the end of baying mobs of players chasing referees to argue decisions. Only fine tuning remains before the rule is given the go-ahead in time for the start of the Football League two weeks from today and the Premier League kick-off on August 16.
There could be tougher punishment for players and managers who abuse referees and, in ‘grass-roots’ games, parents and other spectators will have to stand in roped-off areas. The moves are part of the FA’s Respect campaign, to help referees and assistants reinstate their authority.
At the top of the game, the aim is to prevent incidents such as the red card last season of Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano for repeatedly showing dissent to referee Steve Bennett. At grass roots, the campaign wants to staunch the haemorrhaging of referees out of the game and tackle the critical shortage of officials.
There are more than 40,000 registered football clubs in England, some running 12 or more teams. Yet there are fewer than 30,000 people qualified to referee or act as an assistant referee.However many are recruited each season, at least as many give up. Most of those who quit cite unacceptable behaviour of parents at children’s matches or abuse by spectators and players at adult games.
When Lord Triesman, himself a former referee, became chairman of the FA last January, he gave enthusiastic support to the Respect campaign and two events in the Premier League proved a watershed. The first was when Chelsea’s Ashley Cole turned his back on referee Mike Riley in a blatant show of insolent disdain during a match at Tottenham in March. In the same incident, Chelsea captain John Terry led a posse of players in a mass confrontation with Riley.
The second was Mascherano’s serial dissent at Old Trafford a few days later. Under the new regime, referees will still be able to talk to any player but will be encouraged to deliver most comments and instructions via the captains.
And only captains will be able to approach referees to “ask” about decisions.