Stamp it Out: Canterbury United player banned for 147 days after persistent abuse of youth referee

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF A SERIES OF CASES ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION AND HIGHLIGHTED BY KENTONLINE IN A BID TO IMPROVE BEHAVIOUR IN OUR GAME

A youth referee was forced to run away from a football player who "threatened to smash his head in".

Alexandradu Andruta was handed a 147-day ban from all football activity, after being reported to the FA for his conduct toward a youth official, while playing for Canterbury United in the Saturday League Challenge Cup match.

The match against Littlebourne, which was played in November, was abandoned due to fears over the referee’s safety.

The FA disciplinary commission oversaw the case against Mr Andruta, who admitted the offence. The report said that his actions “would serve to deter and adversely affect the FA campaign to encourage young persons to take up refereeing.”

Mr Andruta was charged with a breach of the FA Rule E3, relating to improper conduct against a match official.

The charge came over an alleged comment, with Mr Andruta accused of telling the official: “If you give me a yellow card I will smash your head in.”

The report continued: “At the same time the player moved towards the referee in a way that gave the referee cause to run away or similar.”

Mr Andruta responded to the charge, pleading guilty, without offering a statement or any mitigating factors.

The youth referee said in his statement how the match “was going fine” until a challenge occurred, which he did not deem a foul. Three Canterbury players approached the referee to protest.

The referee said that Mr Andruta had “approached him and his assistant still protesting against the challenge, shouting in their faces and getting too close…”

It was when the official went to show Mr Andruta a