A referee in underage football has quit the sport, condemning the FAI for not doing enough to curb the abuse of referees at grassroots level after a manager “swung out” at him during an U13s match on Saturday.
Speaking to Off The Ball, the 20-year-old referee, Harry McCann, said that he was now in a position where the increasing frequency of abusive and threatening behaviour means he no longer enjoys or feels safe refereeing grassroots football.
The incident, which occurred in the Kildare and District Underage League (KDUL), comes in what has been described as “one of the worst” periods ever for abuse and violence against referees at grassroots level after at least 20 recorded attacks in the past year.
The incident occurred following a disagreement over whether a player needed treatment during which a manager had encroached the pitch during play.
The game was abandoned following the incident.
Speaking to Off The Ball, McCann said that the latest incident had confirmed to him that the abuse now outweighs the enjoyment he gets from being involved with the game.
“One time it's threatening, the next time it's a guy swinging out and the next time it could be some guy boxing you in the face or leaving you in the hospital and I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to wait around for that to happen”, he added.
“It’s not any single incident, it’s more that this is happening week in week out all across the country”.
Speaking to Off The Ball in May, Vice-Chairman of the Leinster Senior League Tony Kearney said that there is an ongoing problem with keeping referees involved in the game, saying that he had “no doubt” that abuse was the reason.
McCann’s frustration is exacerbated by what he sees as a lack of action by the FAI and KDUL to protect referees. In March, McCann had abandoned another underage game after being abused and threatened by parents on the sideline, with two parents saying they would “meet him in the car park” following the game.
McCann had filed a report with the League and asked to be informed of actions taken after the incident. The league never informed McCann of any actions taken following his report.
“The FAI just don't seem to be doing anything at all to stop this and they talk about these plans and these strategies but the IRFU have successfully implemented these plans that are zero tolerance and I don't get it,'' McCann said.
The FAI established a new centralised unit this year for dealing with assaults on referees following the severe assault and hospitalisation of referee Daniel Sweeney last November.
McCann added: “It's been two months since the original incident where those lads threatened to meet me in the car park after the game and I am still awaiting a response to my report on that. Every case just seems to go unresponded to.”
Off The Ball have contacted the KDUL and the FAI for comment.
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