Call to halt abuse of soccer refs

PIERLUIGI Collina, the chairman of the Fifa Referees Committee, has warned of a global shortage of match officials if efforts are not made to tackle abuse and violence towards referees at the grassroots level.

Collina, who was in charge of the 2002 World Cup final between Brazil and Germany, said it was a real threat when match officials faced verbal and physical abuse in amateur football.

“We have a huge number of referees working every weekend in grassroots and amateur football,” Collina said.

“Unfortunately, at this level, instead of paying huge respect for these unknown heroes, they are verbally abused, physically sometimes. This is a real threat.”

Collina welcomed initiatives to improve behaviour towards the officials. – Reuters