Page 1 of 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview - about this document............ Page 2 Legend..................... Page 2 Use of names.................. Page 2 Initial preparation of reports............. Page 2 Send-off reports................. Page 3 Section 1: Header information.... Page 3 Section 2: Your Position, Distance and view.... Page 3 Section 3: Lead up.... Page 3 Section 4: Incident.... Page 4 Section 5: Post-sanction incident.... Page 5 Summary of DOs and DON Ts............ Page 5 If you need help or advice.............. Page 6 Example Send-off Reports............. Page 7 R1 - Serious foul play.... Page 7 R2 - Violent conduct.... Page 7 R5 - Denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.... Page 8
Page 2 of 8 Overview - about this document You ve sent the player off isn t your job done? Why should you bother too much about the report? The Disciplinary Committee (P&DC) that will receive and act upon your report is responsible for maintaining discipline within the competition. To achieve this, it attempts to issue a penalty that reflects the seriousness of the each individual offence or incident. In sentencing, the P&DC aims to differentiate between various instances of a given offence such that more serious infringements receive greater sanction. Your report must equip them to do this. They must also be fair to all parties. Thus, when a participant (i.e. player/coach/manager etc.) challenges a given sentence, he must be given a fair hearing an opportunity to present his side of the story and to bring witnesses to help him present his case. When a sentence is challenged, the resulting hearing will examine the incident in detail. This detail will often exceed the level of detail available from the original reports provided by the match officials. When this happens, it amounts to new evidence. Hearings will sometimes be deferred to allow time to call the match officials in for further questioning to test any new evidence, but the Committee seeks to minimise any imposition on the free time of match officials. If the match officials are not available to test new evidence, the P&DC may have little choice but to accept it. Also, with a red card count around 30+ per week in the GHFA competition, matters must be concluded quickly if a backlog is to be avoided. The most practical way to help the P&DC do its job efficiently is to increase the match officials understanding of what the committee requires from the original send-off or incident report. The more detail of relevant facts that is available in the original match report(s), the better equipped the P&DC will be when it comes to testing any new evidence arising during the hearing of a challenge. This document provides guidance to match officials in the construction of valid, useful and complete match reports. It deals primarily with Send-off reports, but the principles outlined apply equally to incident reports. Legend: In this document, a red font is used to draw attention to things you should avoid doing, a blue font is used for emphasis and a green font is used for example text. Use of names: If your report must refer to one of your colleagues use, the referee, my assistant, my AR or my fellow assistant. Never name your colleagues in your report. When referring to the offender, use his family name (e.g. Mr. Smith) or his team and shirt number (e.g. Blue team #10) do not use just his given name. Initial preparation of reports: It is strongly recommended that you compile the text sections of your report using a text-editor. Complete the report and save it to your local drive. Proof read and edit it until you are confident that it is both accurate and complete. When you are satisfied, log into the GHFRA web-site and cut/paste the text sections of your report into the online form and click UPDATE.
Page 3 of 8 Send-Off Reports: The send-off report has 5 sections - Section 1: Header information The header section contains details that identify the match, the player, his team, the offence, the time and the score etc. Ensure that the following details are recorded in your note book before you part company with the team sheet: The player s team The player s family and given names The player s shirt number The offence code (R1 R7) The players registration ID The score in the match at the time of the offence The minute of the match at which the offence occurred NOTE PARTICULARLY: Any discussion you may have with your co-officials about your report must be limited to the above details. You should not discuss your report of the incident itself with your colleagues. It is important that the information you provide in the following 4 sections of the send-off report is entirely your own evidence. If you indulge in a discussion with your colleagues about who saw what, by the time you get to write your report, your recall of the facts may be tainted by what others have said. If that happens, your report will be compromised. If one official s report is seen to be compromised, this will cast doubt on the reports provided by other match officials. Section 2: Your Position, Distance and view In this section you should provide sufficient detail to enable the reader, given a diagram of a football field, to plot your position and the position of the incident. It should also state whether your view of the incident was clear or partially/fully obstructed. Your distance from and angle of view to the incident should also be provided. It is not sufficient to say, 10 metres away with a clear view or Just outside the penalty area. The on-line form provides 350 characters for this information. Example: The incident took place on the red team s defensive left flank, 3 metres in from touch and 10 metres from the goal line. I was 15 metres in field and 3 metres towards the half way line, at a 90 degree angle to the contact and with a clear view. (The above example provides sufficient detail to enable a field diagram to be marked with the position of the incident and the position of the referee at the time. It uses 245 characters so there is plenty of room within 350 characters to provide a detailed description of your position relative to the incident and your view of it). Section 3: Lead up: In this section you should provide a short narrative that will set the scene by describing the play immediately prior to the incident. If it is relevant to the actual incident, reference may be made to a prior incident and/or the nature of the game to this point for example, whether it was a particularly niggly match or a match with unusually hard/aggressive tackling.
Page 4 of 8 The on-line form provides 350 characters for this information. Example: A long clearance along the Blue team s right touch line was controlled by a blue forward. Mr. Smith, running away from his own goal line, came in to challenge for the ball. The game had been played in a sporting manner to this point, but was becoming more heated. (The above example uses 265 characters so there is plenty of room within 350 characters to provide a reasonably detailed lead up to the incident). Section 4: Incident: Describe the offence/incident in detail. Consider the send-off code (i.e. the charge against this player) and the definitions offered by the Laws of the Game (LOTG). For example, Serious Foul Play is defined as, Using excessive force or brutality when challenging for the ball. Your report must provide sufficient detail such that those elements of the challenge that caused you to consider it as, using excessive force..., are apparent to the reader. Avoid language that LOTG uses to define lesser offences. For example, a reckless tackle is a yellow card offence a careless tackle is a direct free kick ONLY (no card). Use of these terms in a serious foul play send-off report can leave the reader wondering whether the referee has over-reacted to the tackle and that showing the red card may have been an error. Avoid emotional language be objective and dispassionate. Avoid ambiguous phrases such as,... he appeared to... or... it seemed that.... He either did or he did not it either was or it was not. Saying that someone, appeared to strike his opponent..., invites the possibility that he did not actually strike anyone. Always end this section by stating that you,... showed (name the player) the red card sending him from the field of play for (identify the offence). e.g. I showed Mr. Smith the red card, sending him from the field for (see below). Use the words LOTG uses to identify the send-off offence committed by this player: R1 Serious foul play R2 Violent conduct R3 Spitting at an opponent/other person R4 Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity by deliberate hand ball R5 Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity... Note: Send-off code R5 relates to, Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity to a player running towards his opponents goal by an offence punishable by a free kick. Your description of the incident should provide sufficient detail/information to enable the reader to see that the essential requirements leading to this charge have been met (i.e. an obvious goal scoring opportunity,.. running towards his opponents goal... and, an offence punishable by a free kick ) R6 Offensive, insulting or abusive (language and/or gesture) Note: When reporting offensive, insulting or abusive language it is not sufficient to say that the player, swore... or,.. abused... someone. You must ALWAYS report the exact words used (write them in your note book before play is re-started). In your report, do not use
Page 5 of 8 special characters to mask offensive words (e.g. F#@K ) you must spell out the actual word(s) used. Enclose the offender s words in quotation marks. Your report should make it clear who you believe offensive language was directed at. When it is relevant, you should also describe the manner in which offensive language was delivered (e.g. aggressively or threateningly ) and the volume used (e.g. would it only have been audible to you or could it have been heard on the adjacent field). R7 A send-off for a 2 nd yellow card does not require any description as YC offences cannot be challenged. DO NOT DESCRIBE the 2 yellow card incidents. Note: If you were an Assistant Referee, DO NOT report an R7 send-off. Section 5: Post-sanction incident: There is often no need for any post-sanction report. Some referees will complete this section with comments such as: and/or Mr. Smith left the field without further incident Play was re-started with a direct free kick to the RED team. This is quite acceptable, but it is not mandatory. However, if a player commits any further offence or other reportable behaviour AFTER having been shown the red card, you MUST complete an Incident report. Where this occurs, the Post-sanction incident section of the send-off report should include the words: See separate incident report. Summary of DOs and DON Ts Before you leave the ground - DO Know the send off code you are using (R1-R7 only) ARs, get this from the referee Record the shirt number and some account of the offence in your note book Record the minute of the match and the score at the time in your note book ARs get the player s name and registration number from the team sheet All - Ensure you all have these details do not discuss your report If something happens after the card (e.g. the player abuses an official) MAKE SURE you record details in your note book. Record the actual words you have heard used (not something one of your colleagues told you). When you get home - DO Complete the match score on-line and enter the red card details Fill in all the basic header information (name/id, offence code, time, score etc.) In the case of an offence against a match official, contact the Senior Vice President
Page 6 of 8 Your position, distance and view - DO briefly explain where you were on the field state how far you were from the incident state the approximate angle of view you had to the incident state whether your view was clear or obstructed in any way Lead up - DO set the scene immediately leading up to the incident if relevant, mention earlier events that had a bearing on the incident say whether the match was heated/calm and quiet/dirty/aggressive/clean and fair etc. Incident - DO report what you saw or heard that caused the red card to be shown think about how LOTG describes this charge does your report meet the criteria? ensure what you write supports the charge avoid phrases such as, he appeared to... either he did or he did not avoid wording such as, I felt that he... e.g. I felt he was being aggressive. If he was aggressive say, he was aggressive, or his manner was aggressive. report only what YOU saw and heard never include something you learned from one of your colleagues that is for their report if you need to report something that was said, use quotation marks and the exact words - do not substitute characters (e.g. F#$@ OFF ) write the word!! if your report must refer to a colleague, use, the referee..., or, my assistant... or, my/the AR... etc. Do not name your colleagues in your report refer to players by family name (e.g. Mr. Smith ) or by team and shirt number (e.g. Blue-team player #14) don t use just the player s given name. if there are aggravating factors or mitigating factors, report them. don t bother reporting that all the players said it was a great decision it s irrelevant Post sanction incident - DO Write: See separate incident report here and then complete an online incident report if abuse or other reportable behaviour occurs after the card is shown. DO NOT add any text for R7 (2 nd yellow card) send off DO NOT change the original send off code because there was post sanction abuse DO NOT name your fellow officials anywhere in your report DO NOT discuss with your colleagues what you will write in your report DO NOT include details that you only learned from one of your colleagues DO NOT embellish your report to make the player look worse than he is DO NOT forget to get details from the team sheet before you leave the ground DO NOT tell players what sentence you think they will get DO NOT forget to submit your report(s) - by 5pm on the Monday after the match If you need help or advice: Remember, send off and incident reports need to be complete and ready for delivery to the Football Association by 5:00pm on the Monday following the match. If you are uncertain about any aspect of your red card or incident report contact the Senior Vice President as soon as possible. If you have difficulty making contact, SMS his mobile and he will call you back when he is available.
Page 7 of 8 Example Send-Off Reports R1 Serious foul play YOUR POSITION/DISTANCE/VIEW: The incident occurred on the halfway line 3 metres in from touch on the Blue Team s left flank. I was 5 metres in field from the contact at a 90 degree angle with a clear view. LEAD UP: A high clearance from the Blue Team penalty area was dropping to a Red Team player on half way. The game was being played in a very competitive, but entirely sporting spirit. INCIDENT: As a Red Team player attempted to control a dropping ball, Mr. Smith came in to challenge at considerable pace. Leaving contact with the ground, he lunged into the tackle with his right leg outstretched and studs fully presented. Mr Smith s tackle struck his opponent mid-shins bringing him to the ground. The force of this tackle was excessive and carried a high risk of causing injury to Mr. Smith s opponent. I immediately stopped play and showed Mr. Smith the red card - sending him from the field for serious foul play. Mr. Smith left the field without incident and play was restarted with a DFK to the Red Team. R2 Violent conduct REFEREE S POSITION/VIEW: The incident occurred 20 metres from the Blue Team s goal line in line with their right side goal post. I was 3 metres towards half way and 5 metres towards the Blue Team s right side touch line. I had a clear view of the incident LEAD UP: I had just stopped play to award a free kick for a careless tackle near the Blue Team s right side corner post. My attention was on the tackle, but just after I blew the whistle I became aware of a scuffle and my attention was drawn to the area of the field described above. A Blue Team defender was moving toward Mr. Brown in an aggressive manner. Mr. Brown was backing away.
Page 8 of 8 INCIDENT: As he backed away, I saw Mr. Brown draw back his right leg and kick at the Blue Team defender. Mr. Brown s kick struck his opponent on the outside of his left leg around the mid-calf area. As others from both teams moved to separate the players I moved quickly to the incident, blowing the whistle in the hope of preventing further violence. Once the players were separated and the situation calmed, I showed Mr. Brown the red card sending him from the field for violent conduct. I did not see what, if anything, occurred that may have provoked his opponent to pursue Mr. Brown. Once I was aware of the scuffle, I felt Mr. Brown s movements to be an attempt to avoid the confrontation, but his deliberate kick to his opponent is not consistent with someone attempting to avoid violence. Mr. Brown left the field without incident. R5 Denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to a player running towards his opponents goal by an offence punishable by a free kick REFEREE S POSITION/VIEW: 10 metres from half-way and 5 metres from Red Team s defensive right touch line - about 20 metres from the incident with a clear view at 45 degrees. LEAD UP: Keenly contested match, but played in a fair and sporting manner - bad weather conditions. A Blue Team forward had possession from a through ball and was heading towards the Red Team s penalty area with Mr. Jones, for the Red team, in close pursuit and only the keeper in front of him. INCIDENT: Blue Team player No. 16 gained possession of the ball about 15 metres out from the Red Team penalty area and had slipped his defender. He was in possession and heading towards the Red Team penalty area at speed with the Red Team defender, Mr Jones, close behind. About 2 metres outside the penalty area Mr Jones attempted to tackle from behind, but only managed to trip the Blue Team player and bring him down. The Blue Team player was headed direct to goal and there were no other defenders, apart from the keeper, between him and goal. I stopped play and dismissed Mr Jones for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. He left the field promptly and without incident. Play was resumed with a direct free kick to Blue Team.