A charity which represents referees has called for huge changes to be made to the laws of the game after linesman Constantine Hatzidakis was involved in a confrontation with Liverpool defender Andy Robertson.
Hatzidakis has been suspended by the refereeing body the PGMOL while the FA investigates the incident which happened at half-time of Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday. The assistant referee is accused of elbowing Robertson, who approached him after the whistle was blown.
The shocking incident is the latest in a string of high-profile clashes between players and officials. Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was banned for eight matches earlier this month after grabbing referee Chris Kavanagh by the arm, while Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes escaped punishment for touching linesman Adam Nunn.
Ref Support UK, an independent charity which represents the interests of officials, is worried by the spate of incidents and is calling for immediate action from the FA. While he will not defend Hatzidakis’ actions, the charity’s chief executive, Martin Cassidy, believes the incident was part of a wider worrying trend in football.
“The official appears to have been out of order,” he told Mirror Football. “And if it was intentional and it was aggressive then he needs to be banned like any other player – not for more, but the same [length of time]. The learnings here are: what was a player doing going over and manhandling a match official yet again?”
He added: “Address the result of it, but you have to address the cause of it too. What caused that elbow to hit him in the face? He grabbed a match official. What happened with Mitrovic? He grabbed a match official. What happened with Fernandes? He touched a match official. Don’t touch a match official. It’s not rocket science.”
Cassidy previously worked as a match official and is concerned by the lack of respect players have for referees. He believes that these incidents would not happen if players were prevented from even approaching officials in the first place.
“We’ve called for a two-metre rule,” he said. “We had this coming out of Covid. It would have been very easy to say: ‘If you come within two metres of a match official, uninvited, in an aggressive manner, you get a yellow card or get sent off.’ There are no boundaries at the moment.”
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The FA has dished out over £1.3million worth of fines this season to clubs for failing to control their players, with Manchester United the worst offenders, having racked up £202,000 in fines. Cassidy thinks the sheer number of fines shows the system is not working and a different approach is needed.
“Money punishment doesn’t work at any level of football,” he said. “They’ve been taking money as punishment for ages and I don’t think it’s good that anyone makes money out of abuse of referees.
“The individual that gets abused gets no benevolence whatsoever – it’s the wrong approach. We need to start deducting points. So if someone is found guilty of abusing a referee, that person’s team loses points. The deterrent will be there.”
The Robertson incident is merely the latest and most high-profile incident of officials clashing with players. Cassidy pointed to the case involving referee Darren Drysdale and Ipswich player Alan Judge, which saw Drysdale suspended by the FA in March 2021 for squaring up to the midfielder.
He said: “These things are happening. What is the straw that’s going to break the camel’s back in football? There have been little reckonings here and there, but something big is going to happen.
“It’s just around the corner. We believe a match official isn’t far away from getting killed on the field of play. I also don’t think we’re far away from a match official having enough and turning round and smacking someone.”
Despite the bleak state currently, Cassidy does see some signs of green shoots. The appointment of Howard Webb as chief refereeing officer at the PGMOL has led to an improvement in the communication between clubs and officials off the pitch.
The PGMOL released a statement during the Liverpool vs Arsenal game about the Hatzidakis incident and appears to be taking control of the incident. Cassidy is also happy that after five years of campaigning to IFAB and the FA, a body camera trial for officials is now taking place at grassroots level.
But he has a solemn note of warning for the arbiters of the game: “As a charity, we’re worried – and I think everyone in football should be worried.”
