Please see the message below from Kent RFC disciplinary panel. As you will see there has been an increase in match official abuse and the consequences for individuals and clubs found guilty of this offence are very severe. It is important that all players and supporters of the club conduct themselves respectfully towards referees and match officials at all times.
With the 2024-25 season barely a few weeks old, the KCRFU’s Adult Discipline Panel has already received two allegations of physical abuse of a referee (one being pushed, the other being spat at). Furthermore, the Panel has received two allegations of club officials trying to persuade a referee not to report a red card. This is completely unacceptable and our patience with such poor behaviour is exhausted.

Last season, the KCRFU and KSRFUR jointly and for the second season in succession, warned that anybody associated with a club (be they a player, coach, parent / guardian, or spectator) proven to be in breach of RFU Laws and Regulations relating to poor behaviour and especially, Match Official Abuse (MOA) would receive the severest sanctions possible.

Very disappointingly, our call has gone unheeded. During 2023-24, the Adult Panel dealt with 157 cases, representing a 67 per cent increase on 2022-23. Of these, almost half related either to MOA or conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game, including those MOA cases that were passed from the Age Grade to the Adult Panel for consideration. The nature of those cases that have already come before the Adult Panel does not augur well for the rest of 2024-25.

This simply cannot continue. If it does, we will lose referees - and who can blame them for leaving the game? The result of this will be that clubs which already are struggling to raise teams to fulfil fixtures and increase playing membership will find themselves in even greater difficulty if, having got together a team, finding that there is nobody available to referee the match, causing it to be cancelled. Moreover, the sheer number of cases places a huge administrative (and intellectual) burden on our volunteers who sit on the Panels, placing them under severe time pressures, balancing their other work and family commitments, while ensuring that those accused of offences are subject to due process and have a fair hearing. It is therefore in clubs’ own interests to stamp out this poor behaviour.

We remind clubs that any such sanctions that may be imposed for proven breaches may not be restricted to a particular section or age group. Discipline is regarded as a ‘whole club’ issue. Therefore, sanctions may include financial penalties, docking of 1st XV points, suspension of coaches and expulsion from competitions, even if the proven offence(s) was perpetrated by a club’s youth/minis section.

So, for the third and hopefully final time, we instruct clubs immediately and without fail to bring this matter to the attention of all officials, coaches, players, volunteers and spectators (be they parents / guardians or others) and to warn them as to the good behaviour and respect for match officials – and each other – that is expected and which is the very essence of the game we love.

Executive Committee, KCRFU
Executive Committee, KSRFUR

As you will gather from this message Kent RFU are quite rightly taking this issue very seriously. As well as possible sanctions against the club any individuals found guilty of match official abuse should also expect to receive lengthy bans from playing, examples of which are as follows:

Disrespect the authority of a match official 2 to 52 weeks/matches
Match official verbal abuse 6 to 52 weeks/matches
Physical contact with match official 6 to 52 weeks/matches
Threatening words or actions towards a match official 12 to 260 weeks/matches
Physical abuse of a match official 24 weeks/matches to life

Spectators can and will also be dealt with and can expect to receive touchline bans, etc.

Please note that touch judges are also match officials (including substitute players , coaches, supporters, etc). Please also be aware that should any match official abuse take place after the game is finished (in the bar, online, etc.) it will still be dealt with in the same manner.

The club also has to pay £125 costs per hearing and the club will ask guilty individuals to reimburse the club.

You may not always agree with every decision that they make but at the end of the day the referee probably has the hardest job on the pitch? They give their time and come out in all weather to facilitate the playing of rugby matches (remember, no referee no game!).
So please treat all referees and officials with respect at all times.