Sunday December 1, in Allier, a Football referee was attacked by a player. In order to denounce this violence which is developing on the pitches, there will be no appointment of an official referee on the weekend of December 7 and 8 in Allier.
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This is one aggression too many. Sunday December 1, a football referee was the victim of a punch and a kick from a player at a stadium in the suburb of Montluçon, in Allier, during a D3 match. The referee was taken to hospital with a broken nose and 10 days of ITT. Faced with the increase in violence on the pitches, the Allier Football District, the Departmental Commission of Referees and the National Union of Referees of Allier have decided not to appoint an official referee for departmental matches. seniors and young people on the weekend of December 7 and 8. Guy Poitevin, president of the Allier Football District, justifies this decision: “For some time now, there has been an increase in attacks, both towards senior and young referees. There is fed up on the part of the refereeing body as a whole. We discussed with the Departmental Commission of Referees and the National Union of Football Referees of Allier and we decided to take action to raise club awareness of these problems of violence. The district will not appoint a referee next weekend for either seniors or youth. We will let the clubs manage the meetings themselves”.
-The matches will still be able to take place. They will be held under the authority of volunteer leaders. Guy Poitevin continues: “We did not want to cancel the day to try to make the leaders aware of the difficulty of refereeing a match every Sunday. We hope that this decision will have symbolic value. It is likely that, on the following weekends, referees will not want to participate in the matches either.”. He emphasizes the symbolic significance of the decision: “I have been district president for 20 years. In my memory, this is the first time that we have implemented such an action. There have already been strikes by referees. This is a strong action”.
Guy Poitevin talks about the violence that has developed on football fields: “There is fed up and unease among the referees. I don’t understand this violence. We are a rather rural district. Allier is not the suburbs of Lyon, Saint-Etienne or Grenoble. This is undoubtedly linked to current society. This is a situation that has become widespread. This is becoming worrying. We must not give up, we must show who is strongest. We must try to eradicate this violence which reigns on the ground. There is violence from players but also from certain educators and certain parents. The latter are omnipresent on the ground and do more harm than good. They see their children as future Mbappé and do not accept the decisions of educators, do not accept that their children lose a meeting”.
As for the referees, the same story. Julien Alligier, president of the National Union of Football Referees of Allier, explains: “When it comes to this, it’s a serious matter. We have passed a certain stage of violence. We saw no other solution than to withdraw at least this weekend. We had the support of our authorities”. He evokes the state of mind of the referees: “Referees are afraid. Since the start of the season, things have been increasing. The referees are also angry. They don’t understand what happened to their colleague on Sunday. It can happen to anyone, at any time. They want there to be awareness and for clubs to clean up their ranks”.
Julien Alligier believes in certain measures to eradicate violence: “There are a multitude of sanctions. In neighboring departments, the sanctions are doubled but this does not prevent violence. In last Sunday’s case, there is the disciplinary aspect and the criminal aspect because the referee filed a complaint. The public prosecutor must enforce the law”. A bit fatalistic, Julien Alligier underlines: “Football is unfortunately a reflection of society. No one respects authority anymore, whether teachers or police officers. For referees, we hope that our actions will make it possible to change certain behaviors”. The district is considering doubling disciplinary sanctions starting in January to combat violence on football fields.
