Action Plan agreed between Capital Football and Referees Standing Advisory Committee to tackle match official abuse
Following recent meetings between Capital Football and representatives from the refereeing community, and the delivery of a pre-finals workshop for the ACT clubs, Capital Football, the Referees Standing Advisory Committee and members of the referee community have agreed on a number of initiatives and priorities to enhance the experience for referees in the ACT.
Referees Standing Advisory Committee Chair Alex McConachie said it was important all parties now worked to deliver on these agreed initiatives.
“We have agreed a range of key short and medium-term actions to address these challenges with Capital Football management. It is imperative we all deliver on these to eliminate both physical and verbal abuse of match officials and provide a better experience for all participants in our game.
“Everyone in the football community has a right to feel safe and supported when they participate in our sport. As we can see from the escalating number of serious incidents placing referee safety at risk in recent seasons, as a community we clearly have more work to do to support our referees.
“We know abuse of match officials by players, officials and spectators is a leading factor in referees choosing to discontinue their involvement in officiating. This behaviour has no place in our game.”
Capital Football CEO Phil Brown supported Alex’s statement:
“We acknowledge the need to focus resources to improve the experience for all stakeholders, in particular our referees. Officiating at matches is a difficult task, one made even harder in an environment where verbal abuse can at times be commonplace”.
“The abuse of participants in our game is unacceptable in any form. We will continue to work with the RSAC, referees and clubs to ensure measures are put in place to hold accountable those individuals that behave in an antisocial fashion, and also better manage the environment in which our referees are asked to go about their work”.
McConachie also said referees were looking forward to taking the field this weekend in a safe and respectful environment.
“The Referees are a strong, close-knit community. We are immensely proud of our contribution to football and the service we provide to the game.
“We are satisfied that the action plan presents a solid road map moving forward, and are looking forward to playing our part in matches this weekend and through the remainder of the finals series.”
Initiatives and priorities are included in the attached action plan to tackle match official abuse.