Referees must no longer turn blind eye to ‘unacceptable behaviour’ – Howard Webb

Referees’ chief Howard Webb says standards of behaviour in the English game have been “allowed to decline” over a period of many years and insists it is vital a new code of conduct is followed by everyone to address it.

Officials are being empowered to issue cards when confronted by two or more players in the season ahead, while players and coaches who seriously or repeatedly abuse referees could face increased financial penalties from the Football Association.

Webb, the chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), says there has been a worldwide decline in referees entering the game, and that a collective effort from everyone involved in football to address poor behaviour is essential to tackling it.

“I think over a period of time we’ve seen a decline in some behaviours, both on the field of play and in the technical areas. It’s not exclusive to the English game, we’ve seen it around the world,” he said in an interview broadcast on PGMOL’s YouTube page.

“This has had knock-on effects. We’ve seen copycat behaviour at grassroots levels, and that’s resulted in people either quitting as referees or not choosing to take up the whistle.

“I think for too long we as match officials have not done well enough in dealing with behaviours that have been unacceptable. We have too often confused unacceptable behaviour as passion. We’ve turned a blind eye or a deaf ear.

“We’re trying to change behaviours that are exhibited in our sport that have been allowed to decline over the years, for many years, that have now seen a situation where we have a lot of referees who are facing really difficult experiences at grassroots level.

“Numbers are generally around the world declining and I think enough is