Reminds me of the tournament game I did, many years ago, at a site away from the main location. Kid, middle school age, has a giant plaster cast, no padding of any kind. "Sorry, dangerous to yourself and others." Coach not happy. He apparently called the tournament director, who called the referee assignor, who called the field marshal. Field marshal hands me the phone. The assignor asks "Is that you?" and tells me why he called. I told him about the plaster cast and the assignor said "If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't have even called." The assignor was a very mild mannered little older guy, whose real world job was IRS Special Agent. His job was padlocking people's businesses, towing their cars, etc. When he retired from the IRS, one long time referee was invited to his retirement dinner. Apparently, he was widely known in the IRS as absolutely ruthless, the kind of guy who would discuss with his boss what the boss wanted him to do, and then he'd go out and do whatever he wanted to do anyway. He was not the type to try to placate some coach or parent.
I'm AR1, not much happening in my game. On the field behind me I hear from a coach: "REFEREE!" "THAT WAS A HAND BALL!" "HOW BLIND ARE YOU?" I look over ... AR on that game is 5-10 yards away. Center is maybe 15 yards. There is zero chance they didn't hear the coach. They didn't do anything. Sigh. I wanted to run over there and red card the guy myself.
CR on a U-19 girls league match. About 15 minutes in and I've heard some whining from the away team parents, including one loud mouth in particular. Then I whistle for a free kick to the away team along AR2's sideline. Away team goes to retrieve the ball. AR2 puts his flag up for a home team sub. I wave him down just in case the team wants to take the free kick quickly. Loudmouth away team dad yells at AR2, "Learn the rules! You can't sub on the other team's throw!" Well, first of all, sir, this isn't a high school game, and second, it's not even a throw-in. I tossed the parent. If you're going to be a jerk, at least try not to be completely and utterly wrong. After the game, as I was getting into my car, another away team dad said to me, "Thanks, Mr. Ref. We've been waiting all season for that."
so often the case in youth sports. I think I get thanked by parents of the same team more often than not when I toss a parent.
Dual in my adult rec league first half my partner called 4-5 offside that the team loudly whined about. At halftime he talks to both captains, tells them he doesn’t want any more dissent about offside. 2 minutes into second half, I call a far offside against that team. Loud NO NO I WASNT OFFSIDE THATS TERRIBLE. I show Yellow card from 40 yards away of course. Same captain who was talked to about no more dissent: “oh ref that’s a soft yellow”
I started to make a new thread asking this but was having trouble. This is an "in general" type thought/question. How does one rectify the, sometimes severe, consequences of a red card with the various ways that they can be earned, especially the ones that are on a technicality? ie, A player gets a second yellow both for reckless tackles resulting in a red. I would agree a suspension is warranted for next game. The convers is GK handling outside the box for DOGSO or an outfield player committing a handball offense that denies a goal and gets a red. Do the latter warrant suspensions and further more, what if those occurred in a JV match where the result was a post season ban for the varsity team? Or is it just reds received for specific reasons?
Generally 2 game suspensions are reserved for things like violent conduct, serious foul play, abusive language or spitting. In most leagues suspensions for getting 2 yellows or denying a goalscoring opportunity is a 1 game suspension.
For high school, the severity of the suspension is not up to referees. It's a state association's decision about what their policy should be. The policy is the result of consultation with the coaches' association and the representatives of the schools. The policy here is not sport specific. I.e. all ejections get the same penalty no matter what the sport or the reason in the rule book. We ask referees not to provide an answer about the length of a suspension if and when they are asked by a coach. Generally, it is one game unless there are overriding concerns, e.g. language that involved racial taunts, threats, etc. We do have a procedure that allows a principal or AD (note, not a coach) to appeal a red card. 99% of the red card appeals are determined by the referee assignor. There is an avenue of appeal from that level, but it is very rarely used.
I would argue a suspension for a tactical type DOGSO offense is severe. Rest of game you are gone for sure, next game is pretty harsh imo.
While I realize my discussion now oversteps the purview of the referee, I think what you bring up that I quoted above is what I am getting at. I suppose I look at 2Y>R as similar to fouling out in basketball. It is not the same thing as being ejected from a game such as ejected from basketball or baseball (aside from maybe a pitcher throwing a "purpose pitch" after teams have been warned). A reckless challenge or tactical yellow and delaying the restart or something else that is more "technical" and not physical I don't think rises to the equivalence of an ejection in terms of how it is dealt with in subsequent games. Maybe the various AD's understand those differences (if they agree) or maybe they do not. A red card does not necessarily mean you did something violent or reprehensible towards your opponent. Again a DOGSO issue or handball on the goal are prime examples I can think of. --- I'll go back to reading now. I started at the beginning and am around page 60 now. Lots of good info in here for new refs in specific situations.
There are no mentions of a game ban for a red card in the LOTG. I think in high school soccer, the NFHS rule book recommends a one game ban for a red card, but that is really up to the state association. Suspensions for red cards are really part of the rules of competition for individual leagues; as referees, those are not our problem.
smashdn, the thing is that high school is not soccer at the high school level. It is a high school sport that happens to be played by other people under other rules. The state high school associations do not want their players or coaches to be ejected from games. Our state has an "All Sports Award" each year. Any school which has no ejections in any sport gets a points bonus. The reason for the ejection isn't important to the schools, the AD or the state high school association. The reason in the rule book isn't important. It's up to the players and coaches to avoid getting ejected, regardless of the specific rule in the book.
I am aware of one situation in a summer club tournament where a player was ejected for a careless tackle from behind near the end of a game, and after the game was over, one of the ARs asked the ref why he didn't caution or eject the perpetrator of a nearly-identical play a few minutes earlier, but with the two players' roles reversed. They conferred with the tournament director and decided that rather than issue a red card to the other player after the game was over, he instead rescinded the card he had issued.