Referees, like players, are human and do make mistakes during a game. Players do not expect to receive abuse if they make an error and neither should referees.

Almost half of referees who responded to a recent RFU survey said that they had been the victim of match official abuse (MOA). In response the RFU have increased the sanctions for charges of MOA by 2-4 weeks. 

MOA can be classified as:

• Disrespect (dissent)
  • Verbal disrespect
    • “Are you f’ing serious?”
    • “Are you having a laugh?”
  • Non-verbal actions
    • Applauding
    • Throwing a ball away
    • Refusing to return to the referee
    • Refusing to give a name
  • Sanction 2-52 weeks/matches
• Abuse
  • Foul or offensive language in comments aimed directly at a match official
    • “You’re a f’ing joke!”
    • “Are you a retard?”
  • Any attack upon the integrity of the match official regardless of whether or not this is accompanied by foul or
    offensive language
    • “You’re a cheat”
    • “Come on lads, we’re playing against 16 here”
  • Any disparaging comment directed at a Match Official with reference to their religion, colour, sexual orientation
    or national or ethnic origin should automatically be treated as abuse
  • Sanction 6-52 weeks/matches
•  Threatening actions or words
  • A specific threat is made to a Match Official either verbally or by physical gesture but there is no physical
    contact between the offender and the match official
    • “Come here and I will punch your lights out”
    • “You better not come here again”
  • Sanction 12-260 weeks/matches
• Physical contact (aka ‘making incidental contact with a match official’)
  • Non-intentional contact with the referee which is more than merely accidental. Put another way, it covers physical contact falling short of what might be considered to be an assault
    • Pushing a referee out of the way to make a tackle
    • Recklessly making contact with a referee, eg chasing a ball
  • Sanction 6-52 matches/weeks
• Physical abuse
  • Offender intentionally makes physical contact with the Match Official i.e. physical contact that could not be categorised as merely reckless or purely accidental
  • Sanction 24 weeks/matches-life

MOA is consistently the second most common offence to appear before panels (2nd only to punch/strike).

The numbers of incidents where Referees have had to abandon matches due to poor player discipline and/or abuse, or Coach/Club Official/Spectator abuse are also increasing. Clubs should be aware that the RFU recommended sanction for an abandoned game is a 25-point deduction, which may be applied to the most senior team at the club regardless of which match was abandoned. 

If you witness MOA or need advice on how to prevent or deal with it please contact the D&W CB here.