Limpopo refs have had enough

Last Friday, there appeared in the Bulletin, a Tzaneen newspaper, news of the action to be taken by the Limpopo branch of the Blue Bulls Referees' Society in the event of abuse, even of the verbal kind. This decision of the Limpopo referees antedates the attack on the referee in Kempton Park on Saturday.

The chairman of Limpopo referees, Johan Venter, has warned that his referees had had enough of continual insults and threats during school matches. Venter has warned that if a referee is threatened or insulted he is to leave the match immediately, even if the match is in progress.

Last month a Blue Bulls referee was knocked unconscious buy a headbutt of a schoolboy played. That highlighted the problem and the verbal attack on a referee in Lephalale (Ellisras) on 8 May led to a meeting on the Monday came close to withdrawing referees from all schools matches in Limpopo.

Instead schools were to be warned that referees would not be made available for schools where misconduct of this nature occurred.

Senior Society referees said that it was shocking that it was mostly teacher/coaches who did not hesitate to have bad things to say about referees in front of schoolboys and even accuse them of dishonesty.

One ex-referee said that it was as if winning had become so overpowering at schools that aspects of education had been thrown overboard.

Venter said: "It is not for referees to prescribe to schools how they should manage the problem, but we will protect our referees and if coaches cannot maintain discipline, which includes self-discipline, we will withdraw and leave the schools to their own devices."