A ZERO-tolerance policy on bad language in football is not warranted locally, says Guernsey’s referees officer Graham Skuse. A league in the north-east and Cumbria is to be the first in England to ban players swearing, one of the scourges of the game in some eyes, and from next season referees in the Arngrove second division will show an immediate red card to any players using foul language.
‘Our referees are getting more abuse, but not in any shape or form at the level of verbal and physical abuse the UK referees suffer,’ stressed Skuse.
‘I don’t want Guernsey to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut,’ he said.
He does not believe the problem is on the rise locally and suggested that if anything it has levelled off and is generally under control.
‘It’s not high but it’s consistent - it’s not on the rise and it’s not out of hand.
‘We have not got a major swearing problem - it’s a slight problem,’ he said.
‘I don’t believe in zero tolerance in the case of language.’
The Football Association-sanctioned scheme, which also covers managers and team officials, could be extended to other leagues if successful.
Referees will enforce the ban by rigidly applying existing laws.
‘I would have to adhere to what the FA rolled out - we receive copious amounts of money off the FA each year,’ said Skuse who is also of the view that with society changing, he is not sure it is the duty of referees to sort out social and upbringing problems.
‘We can send players off but there is a great, great danger of a game not finishing,’ he warned.
‘How many games would finish with [completely stamping out] swearing?’
Different people have different views on what constitutes foul language and have differing tolerance levels.
‘At this moment in time there will be no change in the policy of the referee’s tolerance level,’ he said.
‘But if the FA instruct me otherwise, I will have to act.’
And he questions whether the ‘f’ word brought in by Anglo Saxons is deemed by all to be a swear word.
‘The odds on a referee hearing foul language is 2:1 against - in the heat of the battle, the referee does not always hear it,’ he said.
He cited an example of when a referee is sworn at from behind and cannot determine who the culprit is as a potential problem area with a zero tolerance approach.
But former World Cup referee Graham Poll believes the FA’s crackdown on players swearing in amateur matches can’t come soon enough.
He said with about 20 leagues taking part in the scheme next season, more than 3,500 players will have to mind their language or risk an early bath.
The hope is that the policy will be extended to the highest level of the game, he said.
Football must set an example at professional level and make the worst offenders at local league and parks level understand that it won’t be tolerated there either, he believes.
He does not think Premier League players realise how much youngsters and Sunday League players copy what they see the pros do on TV.
‘There are some excellent referees over here. The standard of refereeing is of a higher standard than many counties in the UK. I have got a lot of very good common sense referees,’ said Skuse.
Coincidentally on Tuesday the issue of foul language is on the menu for an in-house training session for the island’s referees.
Advice from the GFA’s regional manager Roger Vaughan will be included.
‘You are not going to send everyone off who uses the word ’sugar’,’ said Skuse.
He believes players could take a leaf out of Rovers’ Ian Powell’s book - when he gets upset he shouts ’sugar’.
His advice to players is: ‘Don’t swear at the referee and you won’t get into trouble.’
There have been some high-profile issues raised in the game at Premier League level recently.
‘If you look at the past eight weeks the two-footed tackle has almost been eradicated. If the Premier League tried to eradicate swearing would that not be a good lesson to pass down to the other leagues?’ asked Skuse.
*What do you think? Should there be a zero tolerance policy on swearing in local football? Write to sport@guernsey-press.com
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