Tougher rules on dissent, introduced by football authorities last summer, have sparked a drastic rise in yellow cards but a reduction in on-field confrontation, new figures have shown.
As concern over the treatment of match officials by players and fans continues to grow, and after scenes that caused the Turkish Süper Lig to be suspended after the Ankaragucu club president punched a referee, authorities say a stricter approach is bearing results in the English game.
According to statistics that cover the period from the start of this season until 3 December, two stark trends have emerged since the new laws were introduced. One is that the number of yellow cards for dissent has grown substantially, with cards in the Premier League alone more than trebling, from 24 to 80. The second is a decline in confrontations involving players and managers.
In the English Football League, for example, charges over mass confrontations between players and referee have fallen from 22 last season to nine this term. In the National League, the number of charges relating to misconduct in the manager’s technical area has fallen from 52 to 44.
Premier League (from 140 matches):
Surrounding charges: 5 (22-23), 1 (23-24)
Mass confrontation charges: 3 (22-23), 0 (23-24)
Technical area misconduct charges: 6 (22-23), 1 (23-24)
Dissent cautions: 24 (22-23), 80 (23-24)
EFL (from 688 matches):
Surrounding charges: 4 (22-23), 3 (23-24)
Mass confrontation charges: 22 (22-23), 9 (23-24)
Technical area misconduct charges: 10 (22-23), 17 (23-24)
Dissent cautions: 149 (22-23), 331 (23-24)
National League (from 2693 matches):
Surrounding charges: 10 (22-23), 8 (23-24)
Mass confrontation charges: 32 (22-23), 26 (23-24)
Technical area misconduct charges: 52 (22-23), 44 (23-24)
Dissent cautions: 52 (22-23), 144 (23-24)
WSL and Women’s Championship (from 112 matches):
Surrounding charges: 0 (22-23), 0 (23-24)
Mass confrontation charges: 4 (22-23), 0 (23-24)
Technical area misconduct charges: 2 (22-23), 1 (23-24)
Dissent cautions: 6 (22-23), 42 (23-24)
Howard Webb, chief refereeing officer at Professional Game Match Officials Limited, said the referees’ body had been “empowered and supported” to create a “culture change” within the game. “It is early days, but we are moving in the right direction,” Webb said.
“It has been encouraging to see improvements in some behaviours already and the aim is that cautions for dissent decrease significantly to a much lower level in time as this culture change takes effect. That is the real indication of the progress, and with the power of example being so strong, we all have a continued duty to hold firm for the benefit of the game’s future.”
Trevor Birch, chief executive of the EFL, said a new approach towards dissent had been necessary. “In the close season it was clear that we had to try and tackle the surrounding of officials, dissent and inflammatory behaviour, so while it is far from perfect it is encouraging to see that a tougher application of the rules has led to a decrease in unwanted incidents,” he said.
“More broadly, we all have a responsibility to ensure that we treat our match officials with the respect that they deserve. Across the world we are seeing troubling incidents with referees abused, assaulted and intimidated at all levels of the game. This is not unlinked to the behaviour and reactions we see on the pitch and while these drops are encouraging, there is still more to do.”
