Question Number: 20171

Character, Attitude and Control 10/6/2008

RE: Competitive Under 14

Todd of Rockford, IL USA asks...

Two players going hard after a loose ball. Red player charges hard into the yellow player and sends him hard to the ground and never touches the ball. Red player also came from the side and a little behind the yellow player with his charge. CR calls the foul but does not caution the red player for the hard (and in the AR's opinion, somewhat reckless) foul. Does the AR have the authority or obligation to signal to the CR that he wants to talk to him and then suggest to the CR that the foul was reckless and the red player should be cautioned? The CR was positioned good enough on the filed to see the foul (obviously) and to be able to see the angle of the red player's charge. This, obviously, led to a later foul by a yellow player who charged recklessly into a red player sending that player down hard - again, a foul called but no caution. By this time the coaches are yelling and cursing at each other and the players are starting to play even harder against each other - the game seemed to be getting out of hand rather quickly. The CR did finally get things calmed down after a couple of threats to abandon the match (longer story) and the game finished cleanly without further incidents. In my opinion, the whole problem would more than likely have been avoided if that first foul brought out a caution.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The AR is there to assist the referee. If the referee had a clear view of the fouls and decided not to caution, that's his decision. The last thing an AR should do in a game you describe is to signal the referee to talk with him about his decisions. This will add fuel to the fire and only serve to decrease the credibility of the referee in the coaches eyes. At the half, the AR may bring up his disagreement with the referee's decisions and discuss them if the referee chooses to do so but that should be the end of it

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

I am a bit different than my colleague in my inclination to convey input. While I dislike a referee who ignores AR input as the referee it is his match, his decision, his reputation! I must stress though the importance of eye contact and the discreet hand signals that convey the AR opinion tap top shirt pocket for a caution back short pocket for red card. While they can be disregarded if the AR is conveying the signal a prudent referee might want to consider the input. No referee should restart without looking over at the ARs to get an all clear so nothing is overlooked. When I AR and feel the match control could be slipping by or is escalating beyond the referee's control I grab the throat to signal, get a hold of things from here it looks shaky out there. Again the referee can choose to ignore the input but does so at his peril. You are a referee as well as an AR and although you are there to assist sometimes you encourage what goes on by being reluctantly silent. Do not publicly demonstrate your dislike of a referee's opinion as no one likes, I told you so or you suck out there but a calm friendly voice of reason is not unwelcome and not to step on toes you pick a good spot to have a quiet word of advice.
Cheers