An adult amateur football league in Merseyside has announced the "majority" of their referees will opt out of officiating matches for the "foreseeable future".
The ECHO understands an email was sent out to the referees after what the "appalled" league called "totally unacceptable behaviour from clubs" toward officials across "numerous incidents" over the weekend.
A vote was said to have been put to the referees, giving them two options. The first was to refuse to referee any games in the league this weekend as a protest about what has happened to them. The second was to carry on as normal.
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And in a statement released on Tuesday night (November 22), the league said: "After discussion with all referees in the Business Houses League it has been voted by the majority to stage a refusal to officiate the foreseeable future. We as a committee fully back this decision. No further comment will be made."
The announcement from the Merseyrail Business Houses League comes after a weekend of fixtures in a junior league - the Merseyside Youth Football League - were suspended in October after "multiple incidents of inappropriate and threatening behaviour toward league and match officials".
The Merseyside Youth Football League, which is home to over one hundred teams from under-7s level through to under-17s, claimed incidents had taken place "in the weeks since the season began" and that it would "work with the relevant authorities and respective clubs to ensure those responsible are held to account".
