Question Number: 27169

Law 5 - The Referee 2/10/2013

RE: Under 10

Neil of London, United Kingdom asks...

This question is a follow up to question 27154

wow - I never thought my questions could be so misunderstood.

A reminder
My questions are:
Are there a set of rules that youth referees should abide by?
Is it just a moral circumstance that the ref should be impartial or are there common sense rules laid down to adhere too?


@Dennis Wickham
Yes the children want to have fun and I know that and if they didn't we would be concerned. Which is precisely why I ask the questions - the children on my team did not have fun, they felt it was unfair and they complained. Even the children on the coach/referees team did not seem happy due to the pressure of it all.
The coaches didn't get together and decide. The home team are expected to provide a ref.

Our parents are generally a fair bunch. As a club we don't apply adult views to the childrens matches and are proud of that. This is why we were so upset by the opposition taking advantage of a a position in the middle of the park. The coach was not letting the children play fairly, he had an unfair advantage by specifically directing his team with clear and precise instructions on what to do, coupled with appluading their goals - I think you will find that this is spoiling the enjoyment of the players.
We have plenty of volunteer referees, of which I am one of them. When I referee I am unbiased and in fact probably more on the oppositions side as I don't want to be a 'homer'


@Joe McHugh
1 - agreed
2 - we always have a ref (good or bad). Agreed there is a shortage, but I would prefer people to referee and not coach - it is unfair
3 - 'They are simply bound by general principles of what would be acceptable in a game environment' - what he did was not acceptable
'The main priority though should be child safety' - watching the full match and not turning his back watching another match or taking phone calls might have meant he had the childrens saftey in mind!
4 - I agree with your point and I feel you are agreeing with mine. He was not allowing the game to just flow (which I try to do as a ref), he was controlling the game for his own benefit.
I understand your comments about refing an under 8 match, but this was not my point. I was merely discussing the refs objectives and at this level are their guidelines rules - namely does it say THE REF IS NOT TO COACH THE TEAM THAT HE IS IN CHARGE OF AS IT IS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE OVER HIS WILLING OPPONENTS (caps for the rule, not shouting!)
Finally you say 'The answer is to ensure that the games are covered by official referees who are bound by a code and rules.'

I refer back to my original question - are these rules in place? I will surmise that your answer is NO.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

1. Yes, the Laws of the Game as modified by the Rules of the Competition.

2. Of course the ref should be impartial. But if an impartial person is not available, what are you going to do? Cancel the game? Many youth league rules state that if an assigned referee is not available, the two teams must agree upon a substitute referee. Almost by definition that will be someone affiliated with one of the teams. You just aren't going to find some random bystander who is willing to take up the whistle. And if you do, you'd probably better wonder if he has any sinister motives.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Neil
I think you miss the point of the answers.
What is being confused here is authority and responsibility. Authority involves having the power to enforce obedience or compliance with rules while responsibility involves being accountable for, or having obligations or duties. So while the coach has the 'authority' to make decisions because he has a whistle, he does not have the 'responsibility' of being an official referee and abide by the code and rules expcected of a referee.
So yes there are rules and a code of conduct in place for official referees which is part of their responsibility. The coach is not an official referee and therefore has no responsibility to official refereeing so why would he feel obliged to be bound by a code? The same would apply to anyone that officiates that is not a referee. They can apply principles that are different from yours and mine.
I suppose another way of answering this is what sanction if any can be taken against the person with the whistle who is not a referee who breaches accepted responsibilities?
If an official referee acted in the way you describe and proven he would be severely sanctioned for his actions which could include suspension, demotion and possible loss of licence.
If anyone else with a whistle acts like this the only sanction is that the 'authority', that is the whistle, is taken away from them or should be taken away.
So I believe your question should be directed to those that gave the coach authority to referee the match as it is they who have a responsibility to the teams in this matter.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Even an 'unofficial' referee should behave responsibly and at least try to be a referee. The home team may be responsible for supplying a referee but choosing the head coach borders on insanity. What you described in your original question should never have happened and had I been the opposing coach I would have been tempted to approach this person at the half and demand he stop coaching and try to referee or let someone else do it. If he refused, I'd poll my players and if they wanted to, we'd pack up and leave as no one was having any fun.

Your League should have rules in place governing the behavior of unofficial referees. Check with them