Premier League Backs Refs Campaign

The Premier League has launched its own campaign, ‘Get on with the Game’, aimed at curbing player aggression towards referees.

All 20 clubs in the Premier League have signed the charter, organized in collaboration with the Football Association, which will give team captains greater responsibility for controlling their team-mates and respecting the decisions of the match officials, and insist that the skippers are present when team sheets are handed in so that they can receive any specific instructions.

Television monitors will also be removed from technical areas to avoid flashpoints involving members of coaching staff.

Premier League chief executive Scudamore is confident that the new plans will benefit the game and help to restore some of the credibility which has been lost in recent years.

He stated: ‘I have been in this job 10 years now and I sense a mood for something to happen. If we had mentioned this three years ago I think the reaction would have been different.

‘Now everyone – club chairmen, managers, players, officials, fans, media – are all saying we saw things last season that overstepped the mark. If we see unacceptable behaviour, we should make it unacceptable.

‘We have reached the stage where the whole situation needs correcting. We need the excesses skimming off the top.

‘It is difficult to say that without making it appear that we are trying to sanitise everything. That is not what we are saying at all.

‘We want the passion and rivalries. What we don’t want is some of that blatant disrespect and abuse.’