Football Association chiefs will seek an urgent meeting with league managers to try to get their 'Respect' campaign back on track after being disappointed by the latest outbursts against referees.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was charged with improper conduct last week for coming onto the pitch to remonstrate with match official Mike Dean, while Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear is likely to face similar action after labelling Martin Atkinson "a Mickey Mouse referee".
Now the FA are seeking meetings with the League Managers' Association (LMA) and individual managers to shore up the Respect programme.
FA director of governance Jonathan Hall said: "It has been disappointing to witness various incidents of managers publicly criticising referees over the past few weeks.
"The FA will seek to meet with the LMA and individual managers regarding the Respect programme as soon as possible and offer them a further opportunity to raise any concerns.
"The LMA were fully involved in the pre-season consultation and we welcome their continued support for the programme."
Hall said managers needed to be more understanding of match officials.
He added: "We accept that it can be very frustrating for managers when an incorrect decision is taken, but no referee does so deliberately, just as players and managers do not deliberately make mistakes.
"It is easy to support officials when a decision goes your way, the real test is the ability to show understanding when a call goes against you.
"There are already various official channels for managers to provide their views on refereeing performances and managers are actively encouraged to use these channels rather than criticising referees through the media."
Hall insisted the campaign has had a positive impact.
"There have been some positive signs at the top end of the game, in particular the drop in instances of players harassing referees," he said.
"Additionally, we should also make clear that there have only been a small number of
league managers who have chosen to publicly criticise officials on the field or through the media.
"This is a long-term commitment and the FA will continue to work with all other organisations to improve behaviour across the game."
The programme started after the FA consulted 37,000 people involved in grassroots football and were told that improvements in behaviour were needed.
Hall added: "There has been real progress at grassroots level.
"We will not give up on it and will continue to strive for that improvement at all levels of the game."
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Comment 1 - 10 of 10
victor m you hit the nail on the head,the powers that be should get their act together cameras are needed as in a lot of other sports, so then there is no argument, the off side law at the moment is rediculous, also the elbows flying about, lets play the game as it should be played,if we red card the tackle from behind, the elbows flying then the game will improve.
The problem is with the Quality of the referees and refereeing. Every player in every league in the world RESPECTS a good referee. Bad referees too often make bad judgmental calls that can affect the outcome of games and ultimately loose respect. When the whole world is watching and the referee makes a blunder; we all saw it, but the referee does not make the call, it is irksome to say the least. I say give the referee more help in more referees, including video referees, if a coach/manager wants a challenge a decision then he should be allowed three challenges. Many sports are using technology available to make the right decision. Why is Football is lagging behind with the traditional views is behooving.
perhaps its time we looked further afield for our refs... if the standard in this country aint good enough, perhaps we should start bringing in the best from europe... we do it with players, so why not the officials?
The problem comes down to the huge number of mistakes made by the officials, either the refs or their assistants. Too many games are being decided as a result of the mistakes instead of by which is the better team. Many of those mistakes are caused by the rediculous off-side law. Everyone knows that it is impossible for the assistant to see where the receiving player is at the moment that the ball is kicked 20 yards or so back. Untill this is recognised and the rules changed bad decisions will continue to ruin the game, which is why I have stopped watching.
And the Ref who disallowed Deby a winner.....TWICE.
It has to be said that quite frankly we must be sick of hearing how difficult it is to referee a football match these days, you wanted the job, get on with it !
However, be very careful you make the right decisions, and a numbe rof incorrect ones have been alluded to above. There is simply only one way to save the game and get it on the right track, a shake up. Get rid of those in the FA who cannot see the benefits of modern technology (clearly IT dinosaurs), the only time anything of conjecture is mentioned it is a clear natural stoppage in the game any way so whats the problem.
If the game needsto be re started then use the drop-ball rule, it's been used before, having said that I foresee there will be few if any occasions when that is the case.
So get rea FA get some staff who understand the modern game, clear out the dead wood and lets get on with football!
Surely the fault rests partly with the FA itself. There is no question that referees must be respected - but equally they are only human. It is a much faster game these days and we must use all the technology available to help the referees make the right decision, especially on penalty claims and possible offsides which result in a goal.
Both rugby union and cricket use off field judges. Why not football ?
Surely the fault rests partly with the FA itself. There is no question that referees must be respected - but equally they are only human. It is a much faster game these days and we must use all the technology available to help the referees make the right decision, especially on penalty claims and possible offsides which result in a goal.
Both rugby union and cricket use off field judges. Why not football ?
.....and the referee who disallowed stevie goal against Stoke city
Like the ref who awarded a goal when the football was no where near the goal posts!!!
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