Question Number: 23320

Character, Attitude and Control 5/17/2010

RE: U-16 Travel Under 16

Catherine of Kearny, NJ USA asks...

Second question on our NJ State Cup game, which was very controversial. The ref awarded a penalty kick to other team in the second half of a 0-0 game calling interference on our goalie. Our goalie did slide into attacker, but...after the ball was up and over the net already. He had gotten the kick off. The other coach was not complaining, nuf said. Now it's 1-0. Called back our goal on questionable offside call which would have tied it up. Again, the other coach was holding his hands over his eyes in disbelief that we just tied it up, not protesting the goal.
Also....our team is 99 % Spanish. My son & I believe one other kid are the only two that aren't. The kids from the other team were constantly calling our kids 'Spics' throughout the game. When finally one of our kids told the other kid to 'Shut the f... up' (really, what else is he going to say?) the ref pulled out the yellow for OUR kid and not the kids using the racial slurs. Our coach questioned him knowing that he was right there and heard the other team using the word 'Spic.' The ref's response was, 'I know, I warned them about it.' He did nothing to them. I am appalled that this is allowed to happen & the indifference by this ref. Needless to say, I had to say something to the trainer of the other team on the lack of character of his team, and I'm not going to let this lie. What should really have happened during this game? Thank you.
PS-I will admit our team was not the better team on the field, but then again, how much of this shananigans could have contributed to that? Hum? They didn't deserve to be treated the way they were.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Catherine
One of the difficult decisions a referee has to make in respect of the goalkeeper challenging for the ball is does he play advantage and whether the ball was out of play or not before the foul contact or whether it was accidental collision by players. I would have to say that generally contact by the GK where the GK has made foul contact with the opponent either by way of charging, pushing, jumping at, tripping etc should result in a penalty unless a clear advantage emerges. The attacker just getting the shot off is not sufficient to not award the penalty. There will be situations where players collide accidentally into each other but that is totally different from foul contact. Foul recognition is one of the key tasks of a referee and he/she has to decide whether the contact is a foul or not and who caused the foul. I suggest that referees move the incident to say the half way line and what would be their decision. More than likely a direct free kick.
Now as regards the behaviour of the teams the referee was correct to caution for the 'F' comment that was made. However the racial slur is a very serious offence in soccer and it is a dismissal for using offensive, insulting and abusive language. Any racial abuse should have resulted in a dismissal and a red card. This is not tolerated in our game and I suggest that your club report this to the competition authority and ask that it should be investigated thoroughly.
I might also suggest that in future that any such behaviour is reported to the referee during the game and I would go as far as to say that if it continued I personally would withdraw the team from the game.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the referee heard racial slurs from a player, that player should be sent off for offensive, insulting or abusive language. There is no excuse for that on the soccer field.

I would have your coach report this incident to the State Cup authority. While it will not change the outcome of your game, it could serve to inhibit the abuse in the future.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee could have sent off any player using a racial slur and any player using the 'f' word at an opponent. Both are offensive, abusive or insulting language. I'm sorry that the referee did not stamp out the racially charged language immediately and emphatically. Even if the referee felt a warning would suffice, when it continued, the referee should have cautioned or sent-off players until it stoppped. It is not acceptable.

This does not excuse the language by the other team. The laws do not accept the notion that one player is justified using abusive language because an opponent did.
It proves, unfortunately, that the players will act when the referee fails, and with teenage boys, the consequences for inaction can quickly escalate into violence.

Finally, players rightfully expect that the referee will do complete justice. Cautioning the retaliatior and not the instigator is not proper game management. Both should be punished, and I believe it helpful for all to see that the instigator is punished first.

Sometimes, however, the referee is hampered by only hearing/seeing the retaliation and missing the first foul/misconduct. While the referee can only act on and report what she (and her assistant referees) heard, the league president can report the abusive language to the state cup committeee . Such a report likely will be investigated vigorously.