A greater number of players in junior football ended up paying fines last season - and it could all be down to easier administration for referees.
I have no local figures but nationally it has been reported that cautions rose by 30 per cent. When crime figures show an increase, the police and government often give the answer, that there hasn't actually been an increase in criminal activity but rather in reporting of crimes. With increased cautions, this may well be the case.
I suppose it is universally known that, if a referee sends off or cautions a player, he has to submit a misconduct report, describing his reason for taking such action. Over the years, cautions and dismissals have steadily increased due to a number of factors. One of them is the increased number of mandatory cautionable or sending off offences.
For example, a player taking his shirt off to celebrate a goal must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour as it is now written in the Laws of the Game. Many other cautionable offences have been brought about by coaches attempting to circumvent the law. An example is that wanting to delay free kicks
awarded to opponents, coaches tell players to stand over the ball, despite the law saying they must be at least 10 yards away. This tactic was added to cautionable offences in 1997.
Diving, or 'simulation to deceive' as it is called in the laws, has always been with us but its increase has led to it being made punishable by a caution. Then of course there is the greater resentment of authority today, especially amongst young people, so although dissent has always been a cautionable offence it is now more prevalent.
This latest flood of cautions however, is I suspect, down to the fact that reporting has been made a lot easier. Imagine that a referee has shown half a dozen yellow cards during a match and perhaps one red one - sadly not unusual. When he gets home, he has to sit down and write an individual report on each incident, A description of what each erring player did, the player's name and what action, he, as referee, had taken. Duplicates of each report are required and then have to be sent by first class post within two days of the match.
The feeling has been that this administrative workload has dissuaded some referees from taking action, either from issuing cautions when they should have done so, or, having shown a yellow card, then neglecting to send in a report. Any referee found guilty of this behaviour would be punished by his FA, but lets face it, any player who doesn't get a fine after receiving a yellow card is not likely to complain.
Last season a new form was introduced for cautions. All the referee has to do now, is fill in the match details; the name of the competition, the teams taking part and the name of the player cautioned. But instead of describing the offence, he just has to enter a code. All cautionable and sending off offences have a code. Unsporting behaviour, which covers anything from a reckless tackle to diving, is for instance, C1. What's more, up to ten cautions can be entered on the same form, and it covers both teams. It can be completed on the computer and e-mailed direct to the relevant disciplinary body needing only one copy. Sending- offs still have to be reported with a full report of the incident on a separate form but even these can be forwarded electronically.
If it is the case that easier reporting has created this increase, then it doesn't speak well for those recalcitrant referees. But at least more players are now getting their just punishment and extra money is going into local football.
Dick
Sawdon Smith