A charity committed to supporting referees has called for teams to be docked points if found to be displaying threatening behaviour towards match officials after the recent incident involving Andy Robertson and Constantine Hatzidakis.
After being confronted by the Liverpool left-back during Sunday's 2-2 draw at Anfield involving Arsenal, assistant referee Hatzidakis appeared to strike the Scotland international in the face with his elbow before walking away.
An FA investigation was soon after launched into this altercation, though it has been determined Hatzidakis will face no further action from football's governing body despite predictions that he would be set for an extended period of receiving no match appointments.
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Sunday's flashpoint came after Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic was banned for eight matches after grabbing referee Chris Kavanagh, meanwhile Bruno Fernandes was criticised for handling Adam Nunn during Manchester United's 7-0 defeat at Anfield last month.
Reacting to this series of events, which has culminated in Robertson and Hatzidakis both being questioned for their actions, Ref Support UK have demanded players must face serious repercussions for riling officials. The CEO of Ref Support UK, a charity which 'represents the best interests' of referees, believes it is only a matter time before an official is killed on the field of play.
"Address the result of it, but you have to address the cause of it too," Martin Cassidy told the Mirror of last weekend's clash. "What caused that elbow to hit him in the face? He grabbed a match official. What happened with Mitrović? He grabbed a match official. What happened with Fernandes? He touched a match official. Don’t touch a match official. It’s not rocket science.
"We’ve called for a two-meter rule. We had this coming out of Covid. It would have been very easy to say: ‘If you come within two meters of a match official, uninvited, in an aggressive manner, you get a yellow card or get sent off.’ There are no boundaries at the moment.
"Money punishment doesn’t work at any level of football. It’s the wrong approach. We need to start deducting points. So if someone is found guilty of abusing a referee, that person’s team loses points. The deterrent will be there. These things are happening. What is the straw that’s going to break the camel’s back in football? There have been little reckonings here and there, but something big is going to happen.
“It’s just around the corner. We believe a match official isn’t far away from getting killed on the field of play. I also don’t think we’re far away from a match official having enough and turning round and smacking someone.”
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