It is a tale that is unfortunately all too common.
A football referee failed by the FA.
The self-appointed “governing body” of English football have long been putting profits before people, and this week the plight of one referee, Ian Viner, was highlighted by the website, Joe.
Ian, a level 7 ref, had refereed for 29 years, and was first horribly abused by a player and then assaulted.
He abandoned the game – quite rightly and properly – but not only did the player see his lifetime ban overturned to just 110 days, but Ian himself found himself hassled and restricted by the organisation, and accused of being a problem himself.
You can hear his story in full here:
But there is another way.
It’s our way.
At Leisure Leagues we will not be bullied by the FA – or anybody else for that matter. The FA have tried to get us to affiliate to them for decades, first they have cajoled, then they threatened, after that they attempted to restricted our business, bluntly, they have tried to shut us down.
They have not. They never will.
Read more about our story here.
What we can absolutely guarantee is that Leisure Leagues – everywhere in the world – put discipline and people at the forefront of everything we do. We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour, we will not tolerate violence of any sort, physical or verbal, to either players or referees.
And if you are a referee, and are treated like Ian Viner was, then we want you to know one thing above all: that team will never play again.
That means a win not just for referees, but for players too, because the last thing anyone wants to do, really, is play in a league that could be blighted by anti-social behaviour – and if you play in our leagues you can rest easy that they will not be.
We are also proud to work with Ref Support, the only independent Charity to support the welfare of referees. To find out more about them click here: https://refsupport.co.uk/
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