Finally, leadership from the top on dissent

Games 25-26, 2019-20

During the winter break the German FA issued a set of instructions to its top flight referees regarding dissent, diving, time-wasting and aggressive behaviour towards referees. It reiterated that each offence on its long list was to be punished with a yellow card. The instructions were passed down the chain of command to all amateur referees. And so to my weekend.

Saturday afternoon: A boys U19 game between the second placed team (at home, in white) and the third (away, in black), separated only by goal difference. As we line up, I mention the new guidelines, and warn them that any kind of dissent will be punished with a yellow card. But these are teenage boys, and they probably need to be told at least 15 times before they take the information on board. In the eighth minute comes the first caution, for the forward on the white team who protests loudly about me calling his foul on a defender. In the 12th. minute comes the second yellow card, for a defender on the black team yelling at me for not giving what he insists was an offside call. The rest of the half is quiet.

In the second half, the game heats up...

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