In this month's edition the main topic is "Dealing With Offensive, Insulting or Abusive Language and/or Gestures". 

From the image of the game point of view it is important that we deal with this correctly and according to the laws of the game. This covers language used by players that goes beyond dissent – e.g. a personal attack, rather than criticism of a decision. For example “what the f**k was that for?” is a criticism of a decision, whereas “you’re f**king shit ref” is a personal attack on you as a referee. The swear words added to these examples are to make these more typical of how players communicate. A personal attack on you is considered an insult or offensive to you, so would be classed as a sending off offence.

Swearing is rife in football, and in itself is not a sending off offence, it is how the swear words are used and as a referee your interpretation of what is said as dissent or as offensive/insulting/abusive that determines the disciplinary sanction, if any. 

Be careful to recognise when a player is frustrated at their own mistake, e.g. blazing a shot wide, when they may well swear loudly – it is not at anyone in particular and perhaps a calm, quiet word to ask them not to swear is all that is required. 

Our Referee Profile this month is on Simon Micallef  who began refereeing in 1984 at age 14 in the Granville District Football Referees Association following his dad's, Dennis Micallef’s, footsteps.   In 1988 Simon joined the NSWSLFR organisation and after four years began refereeing in the Australian National Youth League and NSW State League Premier division. At 23 Simon was exposed to his first international match at the Sydney football stadium.

Simon’s national and international football referee career included refereeing over 200 Australia National Soccer League games, 35 International games, 2 Australian League Grand Finals, 4 NSW State League Cup Finals, 3 NSW Super League Grand Finals, Australian Johnny Walker Cup Final, and various FIFA International and Olympic tournaments. Simon was awarded the Australian Football Referee of the Year on three occasions and the NSW state league referee of the year on two occasions.

To view a copy of the 21st Edition of the NSWSLFR's Newsletter "The Referee" click on the pdf file below:

July-TheReferee-Newsletter2015.pdf