SWD referees' passive resistance
Referees in the South Western Districts will not referee club matches this weekend or next weekend in the hope that the incidence of violence against referees will cease.
Because the referees have withdrawn from club matches, there will be no club matches at all for these two Saturdays.
The Society will provide referees for schools matches.
This follows serious assault on referee for four weeks in a row. At one match – in George – a firearm was fired. On another occasion a referee was assaulted with an umbrella, on another occasion a referee was threatened with a knife and on another occasion threatened with a broken bottle. One had dents put into his car and needed to be accompanied home. This in addition to verbal threats at the field, threatening phonecalls and threatening SMSes. The referees have said Enough.
They feel that the union has done nothing to stem the tide of verbal and physical actions against referees, which have given problems especially in Western Province, Boland and Eastern Province as well as South Western Districts.
The referees would like the use of alcohol controlled at clubs and the police to be a physical presence at matches.
Abie Steenberg, a former provincial referee who is also a referees’ development officer in South Western Districts, says that it is a sad state of affairs. The Society has enough referees but referees are simply refusing to go to matches. The referees claim that threequarters of the clubs in South Western Districts agree with the referees. Rugby matches are often not pleasant. The referees would be happy to referee for nothing if they could do so safely and in an environment where they could happily take, wives, children or girlfriends.
On Friday night the referees will again meet the executive of the Union. On Saturday all referees will meet to discuss the matter, and next Wednesday, the referees will meet with club representatives in an effort to improve relationships in the future.
