Nearly one-fifth of soccer referees in England who responded to a survey say they have been subjected to physical abuse, according to a BBC radio programme broadcast yesterday.

A study by academics from three universities received responses from more than 2,000 referees, mainly at grassroots level.

Nineteen per cent said they had been physically abused at some time and 60 per cent experienced regular verbal abuse.

The English FA, which implemented a “Respect” programme for players, officials and spectators seven years ago, said the number of yellow cards for dissent by players had declined by almost a quarter in that time and that serious assaults were “few and far between”.

“Across an estimated 1.2 million games last season the number of reported (serious) incidents amounted to a fraction of one per cent,” an FA spokesman told the BBC.

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