Holmes said the association in Sydney’s inner west needed another 50 referees to ensure complete coverage across fixtures.
Football NSW last year said there had been “alarming increases” in sports rage that had prompted some soccer officials to write to clubs threatening to halt competitions.
The CDSFA in 2019 threatened to shut down the competition or suspend teams in response to bad behavior from spectators and players including racial and homophobic abuse.
“I find myself questioning whether I want to continue doing this if this is how I will be treated on my weekends.”
Sydney referee
Holmes said two incidents this year had involved the police “and two further issues which, in my view, should have been referred to the police; however, the victims were reluctant to do so”.
The number of referees in western Sydney has fallen by one-third since last year, which Nepean Referees Group president Nathan Marland attributed to illness as well as the behavior of spectators and officials.
At one juniors game, Marland said two teenage referees were intimidated and abused by adult men at the end of the match, which left one of them in tears.
“These kinds of events make it difficult to retain referees,” he said. “I’ve been refereeing for 15 years and while I have a thick skin, even I need to take a break from time to time as it does wear you down.”
Referees have also been physically and verbally abused while officiating games in the Blacktown District Soccer Football Association.
Chairman Bill Owen said officials were confronted with incidents of bad behavior every Monday after weekend fixtures, which had led to lengthy suspensions of offenders.
“It is always difficult to recruit referees at any time, but the current environment is making that task more challenging,” he said.
Soccer referees undertake formal training set by Football Federation Australia and are mentored by experienced referees.
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“In contrast, when there’s no trained ref, the parent on the side has to find a whistle and then go and call whatever they think the rules are,” Emeleus said.
Emeleus agreed that the abuse of referees made it difficult to recruit and was the leading reason referees walked away from the game.
The referee shortage was worse in other parts of Sydney where teams were not allowed to register unless a player was nominated to become a qualified referee, Emeleus said. “The problem with that approach is you have people refereeing who don’t want to be there.”
Emeleus said there were several reports of bad behavior most weeks, not including incidents that went unreported.
“Although this is from over 350 games, any abuse can see referees hang up the whistle,” he said. “Incidents of physical contact are extremely rare and fortunately there’s been none so far this season, but we had a referee threatened recently.”
The association in June revealed that two referees – an adult man and his 14-year-old son – were no longer officiating games after they were both abused by players and spectators.
The man, who asked to remain anonymous, said he was subjected to “consistent abusive language” and questioning of his decisions.
“I felt unsafe with the level of anger directed at me,” he said. “I have lost sleep and I am left with stress and anxiety. I shouldn’t have to be subjected to the level of abuse I received.”
His teenage son was “inappropriately” questioned by an angry parent about decisions made during a game.
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“I really do feel isolated and disconnected as a referee,” he said. “I find myself questioning whether I want to continue doing this if this is how I will be treated on my weekends.”
Emeleus has refereed soccer for more than three decades since he was 14 years old. His three teenage sons, including Aidan, 19, also referee soccer matches.
“I’ve had some nasty incidents along the way but have learned skills along the way that make me still enthusiastic to continue refereeing,” he said. “Of course, I’d enjoy it even more without the regular dissent and occasional abuse.”
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