A&H

Player shouting at crowd

I'd need more context before issuing a red card for 'shag' or 'tits'. I referee in a women's league so they could actually constitute an interesting offer.
 
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No, the previous version gave a ballon drawing of what was sort of acceptable and what most certainly was not.... One mans industrial language is another ones everyday language.... Surely we are not the moral police, refs, especially new refs need proper guidance!!View attachment 1800

I have never seen this before.

Amazing. I like it.

Is that the last one they updated? Can't imagine sending someone off for saying 'balls', but only a caution for t**t?
 
There is absolutely nothing official about that diagram. It seems to have been produced by the Ken Aston Referee Society, whose approach to web design has not changed much since they hosted their site on geocities by the looks of things.
 
According to the FA, any discriminatory language which is directed at any of the 'protected characteristics' in the 2010 equality act is not only a red card but also a double length ban (for a first offence).

Disability is one of the protected characteristics covered by the act. The term 'retard' is therefore presumably equivalent to 'poof' or 'n****r' as far as the FA are concerned.

I wish the CFAs would do a better job of getting this information out to leagues and referees.

Edit: put in my own asterisks to make it clear which pejorative term I mean
County FAs don't need to send this out. The job of the referee is to identify the offence, apply law and report the facts. The job of the disciplinary department is to recognise the discriminatory nature of the comments for which the player was dismissed and to raise the appropriate charge.

There is a danger, and unfortunately I have seen this happen, that if you tell a referee what extra sanctions may be applied, then reports become, "embellished".
 
County FAs don't need to send this out. The job of the referee is to identify the offence, apply law and report the facts.

The problem is that many referees are not aware that the use of some pejorative terms are an offence at all. For example, the FA would regard shouting "Get up you ****ing poof!" at an opponent worthy of a 6 match ban, but I have witnessed a level 5 referee let that go this season without even speaking to the offender.
 
The problem is that many referees are not aware that the use of some pejorative terms are an offence at all. For example, the FA would regard shouting "Get up you ****ing poof!" at an opponent worthy of a 6 match ban, but I have witnessed a level 5 referee let that go this season without even speaking to the offender.
Unfortunately that referee (and they are usually Level 5) may be one of the many who think that anything that comes from the FA is only worthy of their contempt. They don't keep up to date with Law changes, they don't join/attend Referee Associations and they don't attend County/National Development Events.

They get all their updates from the newspapers, SkySports and MotD.
 
The dogooders are certainly taking over the asylum!
I’ve heard far worse than that, far far worse!
 
According to the FA, any discriminatory language which is directed at any of the 'protected characteristics' in the 2010 equality act is not only a red card but also a double length ban (for a first offence).

Disability is one of the protected characteristics covered by the act. The term 'retard' is therefore presumably equivalent to 'poof' or 'n****r' as far as the FA are concerned.

I wish the CFAs would do a better job of getting this information out to leagues and referees.

Edit: put in my own asterisks to make it clear which pejorative term I mean
It looks like they are not equivalent in your view if you had to use * only for one of them.
 
Offence is completely subjective and if you go by the letter of the law on this and RC anything that is remotely offensive you'd have a joke of a game. Everybody finds offence somewhere, you can't please everyone. Imagine if you gave a red for every time a player has told you to f off in the heat of the moment, it would be pathetic.
 
Imagine if you gave a red for every time a player has told you to f off in the heat of the moment, it would be pathetic.
Em... actually.... I have and I haven't had too many. Less than once a year. It may be a regional thing. Where I am players know that is a send off if said to the referee. To be honest it is used a lot more frequently towards players/opponents and its dealt with differently based on context.
 
Em... actually.... I have and I haven't had too many. Less than once a year. It may be a regional thing. Where I am players know that is a send off if said to the referee. To be honest it is used a lot more frequently towards players/opponents and its dealt with differently based on context.

Must be regional then because you get it every other 5 minutes where I'm from, not always malicious, often frustration.
 
It looks like they are not equivalent in your view if you had to use * only for one of them.

I didn't use * for either of them. The forum software replaced one of those words with asterisks and left the other alone. I edited the word which was completely removed so it was obvious which word I meant. I didn't need to do that for the other one because it wasn't obscured.
 
Offence is completely subjective and if you go by the letter of the law on this and RC anything that is remotely offensive you'd have a joke of a game. Everybody finds offence somewhere, you can't please everyone. Imagine if you gave a red for every time a player has told you to f off in the heat of the moment, it would be pathetic.
Lol 2 x RC for this in 5 years. Note that English is usually the second or third language where I am so it's usually quite obvious;) (And no red cards for Offinabus last season in over 60 middles, 1 in the futsal season for a bung accusation ;) )
 
Unfortunately that referee (and they are usually Level 5) may be one of the many who think that anything that comes from the FA is only worthy of their contempt. They don't keep up to date with Law changes, they don't join/attend Referee Associations and they don't attend County/National Development Events.

They get all their updates from the newspapers, SkySports and MotD.

Out of interest in your experience do these referees normally fall within the more mature age bracket?

It does seem to be a theme that I’ve noticed when running the line, Some of the more mature referees (many of whom have probably been refereeing longer than I’ve been alive) do seem to do their own thing, and are also the ones you never see at development sessions etc.
 
Offence is completely subjective and if you go by the letter of the law on this and RC anything that is remotely offensive you'd have a joke of a game. Everybody finds offence somewhere, you can't please everyone.

To an extent I agree, but I personally believe that as a referee, we have a duty to provide a space that is safe for all players - not just physically, but also mentally. Referees allowing homophobic/sexist/racist language to go unpunished does not do this. It's not about offence, it's common human decency IMO. Players have the ultimate responsibility but any ref who turns a blind eye is just as bad.
 
Must be regional then because you get it every other 5 minutes where I'm from, not always malicious, often frustration.
Without wanting to get into the chicken or egg argument, I think its used so frequently because referees don't sanction them rather than referees ignore them because its used frequently.
 
Whilst offence is subjective as Alex says there are some words that fall outside what is socially acceptable.
For example racism. Whilst I personally would not be offended by racism, whether it be against my own or another skin colour, I understand that quite frankly this has no place in society, nervermind a football pitch and should be sanctioned as such.
Its the same for homophobic slurs, references to disabilty etc.
If society wouldnt accept then why would you allow it on a football field.
There is of course the more subjective insustrial language which can be managed differently. However, there are definite taboo's and whilst we arent the morality police we have to be aware and act accordingly.
 
Agree with you @JamesL, although think an issue is the generational divide - there are some words/phrases/terms that would have been acceptable a decade or so ago that someone of my age wouldn't even think of using now, but as we've seen on this thread, there is a different attitude to them by some. This is where some form of guidance may come in handy I think.
 
Unfortunately that referee (and they are usually Level 5) may be one of the many who think that anything that comes from the FA is only worthy of their contempt.

That referee was not given the opportunity of treating this information with contempt because he didn't receive it. Nor did any other referee unless they specifically went looking for it on the FA website.

CFAs have every referee's email address. It would be very easy for them to send occasional updates on important developments.
 
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