Give the red card to verbal abuse of soccer referees

Like many football supporters, I took in a game over the weekend and was very upset at the amount of verbal abuse that referees take in a game from players, supporters, and managers.

Verbal abuse is going on in every soccer league up and down the country and it is time to kick it out of the game for good.

Referees are only human and will make mistakes, but is it the end of the world if they are wrong sometimes? At best these cowardly practices by players, supporters, and mangers alike must stop - they are killing the game of football.

Soccer league management committees and clubs must take a very strong and consistent line on verbal abuse of referees and stamp it out for the good of the game.

I can see why referees are in short supply - what right minded man would give up a Sunday morning to put up with this verbal abuse from players, supporters, and managers who should know better? In a recent game I was watching the referee took some awful abuse from players, and this is a man who is giving up his time for the love of the game. If a referee makes a mistake, I�m sure he will learn from it.

At best it�s a cowardly practice that is coming into the game more and more at all levels of soccer. Can any league afford the luxury of losing one referee through abuse of any nature? It shouldn�t and cannot be tolerated.

All clubs must be told that verbal abuse of the referee is small-minded, cowardly, and very short-sighted. If clubs encourage their players and supporters to do better in this situation on and off the field, it is only a matter of time before this will be stamped out. In football, we encourage people to support their clubs but it can't cross the line into supporting bad language and abuse of match officials.

If this sort of behaviour happened in the workplace, the perpetrator would be up in court. You would not treat a dog in this vile way.

Verbal abuse from the touchlines is also growing and could be responsible for the high number of referees quitting the game every year.

Referees in parks don't have the privilege of seeing close-ups from five different angles like TV viewers.

They have to make a decision based on what they can see at the time. Verbal abuse of the referee is simply unacceptable and should not be tolerated. It spoils everyone's enjoyment of the game and it sets a terrible example from the players, managers, and supporters to our children.

We are aware that the age profile of referees is increasing all the time. Of course one of the main barriers to people becoming involved is the verbal abuse that they may have to put up with.

It makes me wonder why a referee gets up on a Sunday morning to go to a game and put up with verbal abuse from players and managers for an hour and half.

I can see many referees wait until the end of the season and pack it in after that. If they do, I don�t blame them, what would the managers and players do then on a Sunday morning?

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