- First and formost: if a referee has any questions or concerns about an experience they have on the field as a match official that made them feel uncomfortable, disrespected, insulted, questioned, embarased, etc., or sideline behavior that they observe as a spectator, they are instructed to reach out to: rra@ayso20.org by end-of-day (if possible). The sooner we act on these incidents the better.
- The process of reporting sideline behavior includes communicating with the Regional Referee Administrator (RRA) by email and/or phone, and depending on the situation possibly submitting a “Referee Report” that outlines the details of the incident(s). The “Referee Report” form is found at this link, and also under the REFEREE tab of the Region 20 website. Referees will fill out the pdf and send it to: rra@ayso20.org by end-of-matchday.
- Per the AYSO National Rules and Regulations “…negative comments and complaints about refereeing will not be allowed.”
- Per IFAB LOTG, Law 5.2 “The decisions of the referee, and all other match officials, must always be respected.”
- IFAB Law provides for the referee to “stop, suspend or terminate the match because of outside interference of any kind.”
- Per IFAB LOTG, Introduction, “Whether decisions are right or wrong, the ‘spirit’ of the game requires that referees’ decisions must always be respected. All those in authority, especially coaches and team captains, have a clear responsibility to the game to respect the match officials and their decisions”
- Coaches and Spectators must behave in a responsible and acceptable manner. Irresponsible and/or unacceptable behavior by coaches or spectators should be dealt with by the referee and also reported to the Regional Referee Administrator at: rra@ayso20.org
- LOTG Law 12—Section 12.3: what is worthy of a Warning, Caution, or Send-off
- TEAM OFFICIALS
- Where an offence is committed by someone from the technical area (substitute, substituted player, sent-off player or team official) and the offender cannot be identified, the senior team coach present in the technical area will receive the sanction.
- Warning—The following offences should usually result in a warning; repeated or blatant offences should result in a caution or sending-off:
- entering the field of play in a respectful/non-confrontational manner
- failing to cooperate with a match official e.g. ignoring an instruction/request from an assistant referee or the fourth official
- minor/low-level disagreement (by word or action) with a decision
- occasionally leaving the confines of the technical area without committing another offence
- Caution—Caution offences include (but are not limited to):
- clearly/persistently not respecting the confines of their team’s technical area
- delaying the restart of play by their team
- deliberately entering the technical area of the opposing team (non-confrontational)
- dissent by word or action including:
- throwing/kicking drinks bottles or other objects
- action(s) which show(s) a clear lack of respect for the match official(s) e.g. sarcastic clapping
- excessively/persistently gesturing for a red or yellow card
- acting in a provocative or inflammatory manner
- persistent unacceptable behaviour (including repeated warning offences)
- showing a lack of respect for the game
- Sending-off—Sending-off offences include (but are not limited to):
- delaying the restart of play by the opposing team e.g. holding onto the ball, kicking the ball away, obstructing the movement of a player
- deliberately leaving the technical area to:
- show dissent towards, or remonstrate with, a match official
- act in a provocative or inflammatory manner
- entering the opposing technical area in an aggressive or confrontational manner
- deliberately throwing/kicking an object onto the field of play
- entering the field of play to:
- confront a match official (including at half-time and full-time)
- interfere with play, an opposing player or a match official
- physical or aggressive behaviour (including spitting or biting) towards an opposing player, substitute, team official, match official, spectator or any other person (e.g. ball boy/girl, security or competition official etc.)
- receiving a second caution in the same match
- using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)
- violent conduct
- SPECTATORS:
- Delay the restart, have the coach deal with the spectator(s). Abandon the game if needed
In the youth game environment, referees are advised that DISSENT is a comment, or compilation of comments that is/are personal (“Hey Ref…”), disruptive to the game, and public in delivery (meaning someone heard it). Because there are thousands of forms of dissent, it’s easiest to say “We can’t describe it, but we all know it when we hear or see it”. At its most basic level, dissent is expressing an opinion that is different from an official position.
Below are a few examples of dissent. This is not an all-encompassing list, and are just a few of the many examples available:
Hey Ref: that was a foul; that was a handball; call it both ways; what are you watching; that’s not a penalty; etc.
Repeatedly questioning calls regardless of the tone of voice, a sarcastic clap or thumbs up, waiving the arms up and down in a ‘what was that’ motion.
Trying to become part of the referee’s decision-making process from the technical area.
Coaches with legitimate questions should politely ask the referee if it’s okay to approach and ask a question. Spectators should never cross the field boundary lines to approach a referee before, during, or after the match.