FA chief executive Brian Barwick is to launch a major grass-roots
pilot scheme aimed at getting players to show more respect to
referees.
The organisation is alarmed at the growing trend of abuse towards
officials, and realises that unless drastic action is taken, a
drop-off in the number of people willing to take up whistle-blowing
duties will cause major problems for the game as a whole.
Although Barwick acknowledges the issue affects the highest levels
of the game as much as the lowest, he believes methods introduced
at grass-roots can have a huge impact.
The three main components of the pilot scheme to be
launched in nine regions from next January are:
- Only the team captain will be allowed to speak with the
referee.
- Roped-off areas will be introduced at junior matches so
'over-indulgent or abusive' parents cannot direct their bile at the
referee.
- All players and club officials will be forced to sign a
'memorandum of understanding' noting the standards of behaviour
that will be expected.
"These things are done better through discussion rather than a big
stick but we want to stop the situation getting out of hand," said
Barwick.
"There is a lot of emotion and passion in the game but you only
have to look at a sport like rugby to see there seems to be a
certain level of respect for the officials.
"That sets a marker down for our game because the treatment of
referees is a really serious issue and something we have to deal
with."
Barwick's stance has been backed by England coach Steve McClaren,
who was once forced to resign as president of a local club because
of the behaviour of parents.
"If you do not have discipline you are not in control, if you are
not in control it can cost you the game," he observed.
"In my opinion, this thing has to start at the bottom.
"In my experience, over many years of coaching, the players coming
through are less disciplined every year and instilling the
discipline required into them is getting harder and harder."
