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Question Number: 36041

9/29/2025

RE: Competitive Adult

peter babbage of Hjørring, North Denmark Region Denmark asks...

In a recent game a player remarked (not shouted out) that I should put a yellow shirt on clearly insinuating I was favouring the yellow team. That could be translated into that I was cheating. Wondering where the line is drawn between insulting and abusive. I considered and gave a yellow card. Could the remark possibly have warranted a red card. I guess maybe it depends if it was loud enough to be ‘public’ and therefore undermining. It could maybe also depend on individual referees tolerance levels. When I first started referring I recall an experienced referee saying players can call me or sorts of things, idiot, incompetent even the unrepeatable as I might be any of those things but never call me a cheat.

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