Question Number: 26936

Law 5 - The Referee 10/24/2012

RE: Adult

Tim Foisie of Westport, CT United States asks...

After a verbal dispute, a fight is about to break out on the sidelines between a parent from each team, and neither coach, neither team official and no spectators are interceding. This confrontation has distracted both the youth on the field and those sitting as spectators. Note that because a fight could break out, time is of essence. What should the referee do?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Tim
The referee should suspend play until the outside interference has been dealt with. How that is managed is not up to the referee just that the game will not restart until the interference is no longer present.
Generally the home team is reponsible for security and control of spectators etc and the referee should ask the home club to deal with the matter. The referee should report the incident in his match report.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee has little power to control spectators, but has great power to suspend the match. If the situation is not brought under control (for example, by having the parents leave sight and sound of the field), the referee should abandon the match.

Often the threat of abandonment is enough to cause the coaches or the other parents to solve their problem spectators by putting pressure on them to leave.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Blow your whistle loudly 3 times. Make sure everyone knows you have stopped play. Quickly inform each coach that you are not restarting play until the parents behave and if it escalates you are abandoning the match.

Usually, parents from both sides will intercede if they think the game is going to be abandoned and the hotheads usually calm down.

When I used to work youth games I had exactly what you describe happen more than once and the key is to act quickly. Peer pressure from the other parents is a great motivator to get adults to stop misbehaving.