Clamp-down on harassment of refs and dissent

Last week, the UEFA Referees Committee held the annual summer seminar for its top referees and assistant referees in Nyon, Switzerland. The Malta FA's representative was Ingmar Spiteri, an official on the FIFA Assistant Referees list.

UEFA has decided to clamp down hard on dissent and the harassment of referees on the field of play.

In fact, they have issued a specific set of instructions to their officials on duty in all UEFA competitions.

Their main aims are to allow referees to have less mental pressure when controlling a match.

These instructions were already derived from the rules as they technically fall under the word 'dissent' but as these have been occurring more regularly, with referees doing little or nothing about them, UEFA felt they had to spell them out.

A very common occurrence at football matches is when a player who has been fouled gets up and visually waves an imaginary card at the referee thus asking him to book his opponent.

This gesture could also be done by any other player on the field. An immediate caution is the new instruction for UEFA referees.

Something else we see quite regularly is dissent by means of a gesture such as players waving hands at the referee showing disagreement with his decision or even running towards him to complain about a decision that had just been taken.

The crowding of a referee has also been included in the new instructions with a recommendation that if any other player, besides the one who started the crowding, commits an offence he should also be booked.

Naturally, players must be careful. If someone has already been cautioned and then commits one of these offences he will be automatically shown a red card and sent off.

It is true that UEFA have issued these instructions to be applied in all matches but it is something which the referee should do automatically in any match.

In Malta we have a specific sign that the referee must give if he is crowded. He lift both arms into the air and both teams must retreat into their respective penalty areas.

So, this proves that UEFA felt, perhaps even after certain incidents in the 2006 World Cup, that some of its senior referees are not on top of their form and accept harassment and consequently pressure to act or not to act as the case may warrant.

Correct decisions are demanded by players and supporters alike. But everyone must understand that the referee and his assistants have to officiate without any undue pressure.