Division Two match halted after player punches ref

The Division Two match between St Andrew's and Żurrieq at the Centenary Stadium yesterday was abandoned in the 69th minute after the referee was attacked by a player.

St Andrew's were leading 3-1 when Żurrieq's Joe Lia punched referee Chris Francalanza after the latter had sent him off for showing dissent.

Francalanza attempted to restart the match but he then decided to call off proceedings after feeling unwell.

Comments

Mark Spiteri (2 weeks, 2 days ago)

Julian,Respect is something you gain.I assure you Referees do there utmost to gain this.
Whatever Division it is the Referee officiates in the same style and manner.I would like an example of a "a Referee" not showing respect to a player.
He is there to observe the laws of the game,if he "abuses" his authority there is the competent Board to see this through a Match Inspector.

julian spiteri (2 weeks, 3 days ago)

i am not justifying the incident but in a lot of cases we talk about respecting the referee which is right but the referee also has to show respect to the players .In a lot of games (not premiere)the referees sometimes show a lack of respect to the players so how can you get respected if you don't show respect

Mark Spiteri (2 weeks, 3 days ago)

Dear Sports Editor

With reference to your article Division Two match halted after player punches ref I can hardly believe that Referee Francalanza dismissed the player for “dissent”.

Whoever reads this report would think that the referee is mad for sending off a player for dissent. Dissent simply means that the player did not agree with the referees decision or vice versa and if he persists dissent he is shown the yellow card.

Law 12 of the laws of the game(FIFA) states that a player, substitute or substituted player is sent off and shown the red card if he commits any of the following seven offences:
1. is guilty of serious foul play
2. is guilty of violent conduct
3. spits at an opponent or any other person
4. denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity
by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a
goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
5. denies an obvious goal scoring opportunity to an opponent moving
towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick
or a penalty kick
6. uses offensive or insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
7. receives a second caution in the same match
So please it would be good to print the real reason why the player was sent off.
Going back to the incident I hope The MFRA or The MFA through the Referees Board issue some sort of statement of this violent attack on a Referee.