WP set to get tough on clubs over rugby referee abuse

WESTERN PROVINCE Rugby Union president Thelo Wakefield says that the union takes the recent allegations of abuse of referees very seriously and that clubs or players who are found guilty of ill-discipline will be “dealt with strictly”.

On Tuesday, Wakefield, the WP Disciplinary Committee and the executive committee of referees met to find a solution to the reports of referee abuse on the WP club rugby scene, and Wakefield said that stricter by-laws will be implemented to minimise on-field ill-discipline by players, club management and officials and supporters.

“In recent times there’s been a whole range of infringements – from club officials being rude to referees, to eye-gouging, to spitting and fighting during a match or afterwards, and the authority of the referee being undermined.

“The referees feel threatened because they feel that their safety isn’t guaranteed. We don’t condone the fact that in the past few weeks, a referee was locked up in his change room for a few hours because the supporters of a certain club threatened him, and that led to the referees withdrawing themselves from matches. But not all clubs are guilty of this.”

“The complaints of the clubs are that referees aren’t innocent, that they show up late and that they don’t officiate according to the rules.”

“But that’s no excuse, there are structures within the union, there’s the referees society and there are club rugby departments where they can raise their concerns. We decided to change the by-laws of the union to make them stricter and take (this) to the clubs for approval. We fear we might lose a referee.” Wakefield added that support would be offered to referees in order to make their reports as thorough as possible.

“We will train referees in report writing. And in a serious case, they have to report the incident immediately and get an affidavit the Monday,” Wakefield said.

According to Wakefield, 85% of reported cases took place in lower league games, and he added and an indaba would be hosted to educate clubs and players, while he added that referees guilty of poor behaviour would be addressed. “Enough is enough. We are going to be stricter. We are going to put players and clubs away, and we are going to act against referees whose behaviour isn’t right on the field.”