A&H

Players Urinating

G

Glesgadan

New Member
Level 6 Referee
Strange one this. I referee in a summer league and all games are played on 4G pitches with decent facilities.
The facilities are usually community based and in schools or sports centres.
The league seems to have a problem with players or subs urinating around the side of the pitch during the game or at half time.
I have made it clear to players that if I see them doing this that I would find it offensive (as I sometimes bring my daughters to games) and that I would red card them.
I have to sometimes use the facilities at half time and the buildings are less than a minute from the pitch.
I have not had to send off anyone for this and feel it’s because they know where I stand.
But I am now questioning if threatening to send someone off for urinating is reasonable and whether it would be an acceptable decision.
Just looking for other opinions.
 
The Referee Store
These two stories have one being red carded and one given a misconduct charge.
What would be the correct action?
 
The misconduct was because it wasn't seen by the referee, but was raised afterwards by spectators. The one that was witnessed was red card.

I guess it comes down to whether or not you consider it to be offensive so therefore OFFINABUS. From your earlier statement, I think the answer was yes, so RC would be appropriate especially if warned and if in a public environment. If it is less than 1 min walk and you have made your expectations clear then they only have themselves to blame.
 
Urinating in a public place is illegal.
If a player commits an offence during the game that they could be arrested for in other walks of life then they're getting a red card from me!
 
It's going back a few years now but there was a well publicised case in Scotland of a lower league goalkeeper urinating beside the pitch at some point during the game. I recall he was red carded and advice from local RA, presumably coming from SFA, was that this was the correct course of action.
 
I played in a city league that made it clear it was always a red card. (And one of my teammates was still dumb enough to do it….)

at halftime, a Q for the ref is whether it was a player or a sub to determine if the team plays short in the second half-depending on record keeping, that may not always be clear
 
Will_A said:
Urinating in a public place is illegal.
If a player commits an offence during the game that they could be arrested for in other walks of life then they're getting a red card from me!
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I agree that it should be a red card but I don't think it's actually illegal, at least not in England.
 
Will_A said:
Urinating in a public place is illegal.
If a player commits an offence during the game that they could be arrested for in other walks of life then they're getting a red card from me!
Click to expand...
That isn't technically correct, there's no law for it, but there might be bye laws that could see you arrested for a public order offence. Or if you did it so that your genitalia could be clearly seen by the public you could be looking at an indecent exposure arrest.

Taking that to football, if a player in a game on pitch N25 at Hackney Marshes needs to urinate at half time he has zero chance of getting to a toilet. You are talking 400m each way to the changing rooms (I know, as that's the pitch where I left the match ball in the changing room and caused a 15 minute delay whilst I went back to get it), and almost everyone needing to go, referees included, will go up against the trees at the end of the pitch. Whereas if they are playing at a pitch with a changing room and toilets right next to it they have no excuse, and can expect a card. For me the colour depends how they do it, if they are discreet and out of display I'd go caution. If they do it openly so others can see, especially if there are women and / or children able to see, I'd be going red.
 
Advice from a legal advice website in England:

If you're caught going for a wee in public, you're likely to receive a Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986.

These notices are used by law enforcement to deal with low level, anti-social and nuisance behaviour. People who receive a PND will be fined £50 or £80, which they will have to pay within 21 days of receiving the notice.
 
Story from 1980's - there was a match at RAF Binbrook (Lincs, when it was open) involving two RAF teams. One Away team player goes to urinate at half time, not realising where he was. No action taken by the referee (?); but on his return to his own site he was called in my his CO for a disciplinary meeting. He has suitably punished for his actions, and he found out why he was charged. The houses opposite the pitch were the married officers quarters, and one of the wives was looking out her windows and saw him to do, so reported it to her husband......
 
Russell Jones said:
15 minutes for 800m? ... I take it you weren't at your fittest that day @RustyRef ? ;):)
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I couldn't find the man with the changing room key, once he's locked up he isn't expecting any referees back for at least 45 minutes. Then, ironically given this topic, that unnecessary exercise had made me decide I needed a pee 😂

It's probably a lot more than 800m, that would be in a straight line but you can't cut across the other pitches, certainly not on the way back when the others games had kicked off.
 
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