We are excited to share details of a recent collaboration with London FA to create and deliver specific conflict management training for match officials.

With no existing training of this nature existing in the sport sector, we were delighted to be asked by London FA to develop this training which is underpinned by our deep understanding and knowledge of conflict management skills and techniques, and London Football Association’s specific football referee understanding and context.

It is widely recognised that the abuse of match officials, particularly in football, has become a significant issue both in the professional and grassroot game. In 2023, more than 900 referees in England responded to a Radio 5 Live questionnaire, with 293 saying they had been physically abused by spectators, players, coaches or managers and almost all having experienced some form of verbal abuse.

“I’ve had players at under-13 level swearing at me and parents undermining my authority.”

“I have been stopped from driving my car by players lying in front of my car and jumping on the bonnet. Quite a few years ago I was punched from behind and kicked on the floor.”

At the 2024 Sport Resolutions annual conference, abuse of match officials was referred to as the “overlooked blind spot” in sport. Leading officiating voices from football, rugby and tennis called for more to be done to stop the abuse, as well as more to be done to provide officials with skills to effectively protect themselves and better manage these challenging situations.London FA supports the work of over 1,000 affiliated match officials all living within the capital and all of whom are dedicated to the grassroots game as much as they are to their own personal development. This support extends to a responsibility and duty of care to ensure that these individuals have the necessary skills to execute their role.

Sadly, the ability to manage conflict has become a necessary part of a referee’s role with conflict coming multi-directional on the field of play including from coaches, parents, players and managers.

CMPs Pilot Programme

Our pilot 3-hour pilot was designed to be highly interactive with a strong focus on practical skill development utilising well tested techniques in conflict management alongside pitch related scenarios. The aims of the training were:

• Understand how and why aggression and violence happen on and off the pitch;
• Be able to assess risk as speedily and accurately as possible;
• Understand the impact conflict, aggression and violence can have on people;
• Learn skills for defusing aggression, and challenging inappropriate behaviour;
• Reinforce existing skills and share experiences with others.

The feedback from our pilot was overwhelming positive:

“The course was tailored very well to refereeing. It maintained a nice balance between applicable examples from refereeing to more general theories on conflict management It was interactive and engaging.”

“Perhaps the hardest part of refereeing is dealing with difficult and angry players. This was very helpful in understanding the emotional reactions of players and how to combat it for a better and ultimately more enjoyable match of football.”

We have taken all the feedback from our pilot and further refined the training and are now ready to commence the wider roll out across London FA. We are committed to this partnership with London FA as we believe it will help in creating a safer, welcoming and more respectful field of play.

We welcome engagement with other County FAs and wider across the sport sector to deliver this training in support of match officials.

Photos by Markus Spiske and Robo Michalec