Interrupted after incitement and harassment

On Friday, the match between Amazon/Imås and Vindbjart 2 in the girls 15 series had to be called off.

The reason was refereeing and harassment from parents and players. The matter was first discussed by Fædrelandsvennen.

– The parents of footballers have to take care of themselves. There are many who are eager, but this is way over the line.

This is what the general manager of Grane Arendal, Reinhard Nærbø, says to Dagbladet.

Nærbø himself has spoken to the 17-year-old judge for whom he is responsible. The young boy described the fight as a painful experience.

– The referee says he noticed relatively early in the match that there was a temperature, says Nærbø.

Harassment and harassment

Nærbø reproduces, with the permission of both the judge and his parents, the teenager’s own version of what happened on Friday afternoon.

In the first half of the match, the young referee is said to have been shouted at by parents in the stands and told that he had nothing to do there. He is said to have been accused of being biased after a situation where a throw-in was ruled. During the break, the judge goes to the parents to explain himself. Then he is accused of poor judgement. It led to a heated discussion which is said to have taken the entire break.

In the second half, a parent is said to have shouted harassingly about the height of a player on the opposing team. Some parents reportedly started filming when the temperature rose. The situation escalated into an argument between players and parents on both teams. The referee then chose to stop the fight because he no longer felt he was in control.

– It is his first year judging. He felt he had completely lost control and therefore made a decision to stop the match. He describes the whole thing as a terrible experience that sits in, says Nbow

Shocking

The day-to-day manager encourages parents at football matches in non-traditional sports to think about how they behave.

– The parents have far too much focus on results, and this in turn rubs off on children and young people. It’s all about winning the game at all costs. It is simply shocking that it ends like this. There will only be losers here, players and parents, if you cannot finish a match. It’s just tragic, says Nærbø.

Nærbø praises the judge for his decision and says that he has received follow-up after the incident.

– It seems that the clubs took it seriously. I think that is positive, and that is the most important thing. One cannot stand idly by in that incident here.

– Very unfortunate

NFF Agder has requested a written report from both clubs and the referee.

– This case is under consideration at NFF Agder and we are not commenting on anything beyond this now, writes general manager of NFF Agder, Yngvar Håkonsen, to Dagbladet.

Amazon Grimstad’s chairman, Kai Arne Halvorsen, was informed of the incident on Friday and tells Dagbladet that he thinks it is all very unfortunate.

– There is zero tolerance for all forms of incitement and harassment, both towards referees and players. It is very unfortunate that such a situation is allowed to develop on the sidelines. We have submitted our report and described the battle from Amazon’s side. We are now awaiting a response from the NFF, but it is clearly a matter that we are addressing and taking with the utmost seriousness, says Halvorsen.

He says that it is a shame that the focus on results in a youth match takes over.

– The problem is very real. It’s unfortunate and silly, and in a larger perspective, results don’t matter. You play football to have fun, he adds.

– Shouldn’t happen

Sporting director Anders Johansson in Vindbjart says that they take the incident seriously.

– We think it’s all very sad and not something we should be familiar with. I hope the judge gets a good follow-up. The most important thing is that he judges again, he adds The daily newspaper.

He states that, like Amazon Grimstad, they have submitted a report to the NFF.

Johansson points out that such incidents should not happen in children’s and youth sports.

– We will do our part to counteract future incidents. It has not been a problem in the past and will hopefully remain an isolated incident, he emphasizes.