Question Number: 7019

Law 5 - The Referee 12/16/2003

RE: Select Under 13

Gary Blanton of Lebanon, Ohio USA asks...

If during the course of match an AR uses abusive language and directs it toward coaches and players when should this be reported to the center referee?..I have one more question:.During a game the above happened and a coach got the Centers attention and reported the issue, but to our surprise he responded "My daughtor would not say that." and then confered with a referee awaiting the next game, not one of our officials. Then ejected the coach from the game based upon what the awaiting referee said. What possible violations may have occured? Where can I find the violations? ..Gary Blanton

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer 12/17/2003

Gary this is unethical and must be reported to competent authority. The assistant referee is not afforded this mechanic as a method of communication. ..The referee acted on information provided by an individual who was not a match official. The information, true or not, may not be considered. He was incorrect. ..Regards, ..Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino 12/18/2003

Hi Gary. This question sounds very familiar. Apparently,the referee waiting for the next game didn't agree with the coach that the AR had said anything and,again apparently,proceeded to give the center some information that led the center to dismiss the coach. You raise a number of questions. First,did the AR use abusive language to the coach? If she did,that is totally inapproriate and even if it were my son or daughter, this AR would be dealt with. The problem here is, no one knows what happened. Second, the referee immediately took his daughter's side. This is to be expected, I guess, but was not very professional on his part. That said, if I were the coach, and a center said that to me, I'd shut my mouth immediately as arguing won't get you anywhere. Had the coach really believed the AR was abusive, he should report this to the referee director and assignor of that league or club. Third, it would seem this referee dismissed a coach for something the coach said or did that another referee,not working that match, heard or saw. This is wrong. You may dismiss a coach based on what your AR's tell you but even that's rarely done. You certainly have no power to dismiss a coach based on what any spectator says, which would include a referee watching the game. .All this said, I think there's been a lot of information left out of your question and would be appreciative if you could resubmit with any additional facts like what the AR allegedly said and why the coach was dismissed.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 25966