March 4 – At the recent U.S. Soccer annual general meeting in Atlanta the federation introduced a stronger policy to protect officials who have been leaving the game in the thousands due to verbal and physical abuse.
The ‘Respect the Call’ initiative has updated the referee abuse prevention policy (531-9), which is designed to make youth and amateur matches safer, more fun and more empowering for everyone involved.
Simply put, referee abuse will not be tolerated and the federation is asking everyone to do their part by knowing the rules, reporting referee abuse and embodying behaviours that represent the best of us.
After dialogue with referees, coaches, administrators and the soccer community at large, the updated policy includes stronger sanctions for any form of physical or non-physical abuse towards referees.
The motivation behind this policy is that referee abuse is on the rise not only in the United States, but worldwide. The federation has realised that we (the soccer community) need to understand what abuse looks like, as there is confusion, while also developing tools to prevent it from happening.
Over the last five years a staggering 90% of referees have reported an increase in abuse and sadly, 60% of referees have chosen not to recertify and walked away from the game due to harassment and threats.
While the upper levels of the game have not felt the loss of officials quite as dramatically, the youth game has been decimated, leading to a shortage that not only hurts the quality of the game but curtails the pipeline further up the chain.
U.S. Soccer has stated that we all have a role to play and it has identified how we can make a difference as follows:
Coaches: Lead by example. Set the tone for good sportsmanship with your players.
Players: Respect your referees, whether you agree with their calls or not.
Parents and spectators: Cheer for your team, not against the referee. Help create a positive environment.
This author is a licensed referee and can attest that there is nothing more fun than officiating a competitive game. However, there is nothing worse than being yelled at for an entire match while trying to do something you love.
Let’s ‘Respect the Call’.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1741089952labto1741089952ofdlr1741089952owedi1741089952sni@o1741089952fni1741089952.