Blog,  Jan's referee stories in The Hague area

Shouting at referee 3 times per game

Shouting at referee, which player hasn’t done it? Yes, I was commenting a lot on the referee as well. Not aggressively, but I knew the rules better – at least that’s what I thought.

This season I was in a dressing room with a fellow referee who asked me: If a player moans three times at the refereeper match, do you think that is a lot or not?

Think about it and the scroll down below the picture.

Shouting at referee with megaphone

Three did not sound like a huge amount. Then he did the math for mee. 11 players + 3 substitutes, 1 coach per team. That means 30 people. If they all were shouting at the referee 3 times per game, you’ll get 90 comments. That means 1 comment per minute. The refereeing colleague then said: “What if your boss shouts at you every minute? I would hit him.”

Did you ever realise this? Think about it next week.

PS: Do you experience many moaning players during your game? How do you deal with players who argue with you?

6 Comments

  • Pat O'Donnell

    Jan, football is an emotional sport. I’d take action if the shouts were abusive or if they tried to continually influence the game. I chat with players before game and remind them about dissent. It works more often than not.

    • Jan ter Harmsel

      Sounds like the best plan, Pat! And what about the idea commented above when you would give a yellow/red for every shout?

  • Arthur Smits

    Playing deaf will help for a while, if they remain issuing comment i will use the power of speech first. Clearly marking the line, after that there is no way back and yellow will follow, or even worse than that. Offensive foul language will be straight red anyway.

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