June, 2006 - Commissioner's Casebook
(O.C. Art I, Sec 3, 3, 3.1.3.5, 3.1.7)
A soccer coach was both abusive and profane in dealing with officials. He continuously made offensive and insulting comments to the assistant referee after the assistant referee had asked him to assume a position on the sidelines as to not interfere. As well, following an injury to one of his players involved in a collision he directed abusive and insulting comments toward the referee to the point that the officials abandoned the game. In a game the following day the coach directed profanities toward the opposing team.
RULING:
The coach received a 2 game suspension for directing profanities toward the opposing team. His abuse of the officials resulted in a 1 game suspension and the coach was placed on probation for one year. If similar profane or abusive behavior was to be repeated, he would be immediately suspended for one year (Note: the game report for the first match was sent in after the second match, so the suspensions and probation was applied in the order presented above).
SEE ALSO: A similar case occurred in 2001-02 (Dean) with a coach showing disrespect to the officials’ calls. The coach was suspended for 2 games. A case involving foul or abusive language toward an official in 2002-03 (Phipps) resulted in a 4 game suspension with the possibility of the suspension being reduced by 1 game if the coach provided a written apology to the 3 officials at the game.
(1998-99, Meadus) |