The Black Card for Abusive Parents at Kids' Football Matches...
Talking to a friend of mind who is half French, he told me that when he was growing up France and playing youth football, anyone who swore was immediately sent off. Given how I know this friend is more than capable of painting the air blue now he is grown to man's estate, this was a surprise. Admittedly, this was a long time ago and I don't know if this still happens, but it was fascinating to hear that it did.
The same friend also told me that he was listening to TalkSport that morning and had heard Ally McCoist complaining that when he went to watch one of his sons play youth football the parents were told to keep well away from the pitch.
Next, I read that the Romanian Football Federation has introduced a new system to help reduce abuse from parents and adults in youth football. You'll perhaps have seen a few articles about this, but I want to link it back to my French friend and Mr McCoist's touchline 'ban.' But let's start with the Black Card...
Essentially, the Romanian system works as follows (taken from the FRF website):
This new procedure is triggered when the referee sees inappropriate behaviour from spectators or parents (my emphasis) or is informed of it by the fourth official (unlikely in kids' football!) or any other match official.
When this happens, the referee will apply the following measures sequentially:
Step 1 – The Warning: The referee temporarily stops the match and asks the coaches to speak directly to their own supporters or parents so that the misconduct stops immediately. Where a public address system is available, announcements will also be made to spectators.
Step 2 – Temporary 10-Minute Match Suspension: If the bad behaviour continues, the referee suspends the match for 10 minutes and sends the teams to the dressing rooms (or the side of the pitch more likely). During this time, coaches will again attempt to de-escalate the spectators’ behavior.
Step 3 – Brandishing the Black Card and Permanent Match Cancellation: If abusive behaviour persists after play resumes, the referee blows the final whistle. The match is permanently abandoned and cannot be resumed.
In this final scenario, the referee displays a Black Card, visually marking the decision to permanently stop the match. It serves as the ultimate signal that the line has been crossed.
You can watch this FRF video on YouTube. It's in Romanian, but you don't have to speak their language to understand the message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3FWXnsPTU
Some questions for the folks at Hampden, the Refs and the SYFA, who can make the necessary decisions...
Why can't we do introduce the Black Card in Scotland? Of course, lots of parents would go nuts, but they would get the message once this has happened once or twice. By way of comparison, when the laws were changed so that the goalkeeper has to release the ball after eight seconds, there was only one instance where this penalty was exacted, then it never happened again last season.
Could we send off kids for swearing? Let's not pretend that this will stop them swearing away from the pitch, but it will teach them to be disciplined during the match. Discipline is vital in football teams, and those who can apply it consistently are usually better footballers. Friends who are (or know referees) at grassroots level tell me that swearing is endemic, often towards the referee.
Why can't we educate our very young footballers, those who start playing at two or three with the club's Community Trusts/Foundations, that they need to respect the referee? Everyone tells me this can't be done, yet I recently interviewed the Head of Operations at a major Premiership club and she thought that, in the same way that 'Show Racism the Red Card' is now drilled into our youngsters (and a good thing too), it should be perfectly possible to do the same with attitudes to referees. Watch out for our video interview about this coming out in a week or so.
Who benefits? The kids. The referees. The game. What's not to like? Why don't we just do it....?
Alastair Blair, Operations Director, the SFU
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