Referee David McNamara has been handed a three-week ban by the English FA for asking two captains to play rock, paper, scissors to decide the kick-off.
Football referee David McNamara has been banned for three weeks after he forgot his coin and asked two captains to play rock, paper, scissors to decide the kick-off.
The incident took place ahead of Manchester City’s home Women’s Super League match with Reading on October 26 and involved their England skipper Steph Houghton and visiting captain Kirsty Pearce, the BBC reported.
A coin toss to decide who kicks off is a requirement under the Laws of the Game but McNamara left his coin in the dressing room and allowed the captains to play rock, paper, scissors to determine kick off and playing ends.
“The FA can confirm that referee David McNamara has been suspended for 21 days, starting from Monday 26 November, after accepting a charge of ‘not acting in the best interests of the game’, an FA spokesman was quoted as saying.
“This follows an incident in the FA WSL match between Manchester City and Reading on Friday 26th October when he failed to determine which team would kick off the match by the toss of a coin, as required by the Laws of the game.”
McNamara, who has the right to appeal against the FA suspension will be able to return to duty from December 17.
Post_hoc
Roar Rookie
I don't know why he didn't just allow them to use tap n go......
Theo
Roar Rookie
Another example of a referee letting the players decide and it seems a trivial matter which the punishment doesn't fit the incident. There were days the home team would kick-off and pick which end to defend. I wonder more importantly how his on-field performance went.
Mick Jeffrey
Roar Rookie
"Poor predictable Bart always goes Rock...." In all seriousness, I'm glad they're not in our local comp. There are times we've had to get captains to guess which hand a whistle is in rather than a coin toss. Wonder what the suspension would be for that?
Jordan Klingsporn
Roar Guru
Yes definitely, it doesn't really affect the game
Kangas
Roar Rookie
A massive over reaction it seems unless there is a lot more to it
Nick Symonds
Guest
The FA were far too lenient, they should of given him a lifetime ban for bringing the sport into disrepute. Zero tolerance for those who breach the Laws of the Game. #makefootballgreatagain
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Seems an overreaction.
chris
Guest
Tim you wonder if anyone is at home at the Roar. Never get any responses around such issues (let alone fix them). Paragraphing, spacing for new sentences is also an issue. But never any explanation from the Roar. Hello? Anyone there?
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
It was in* WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO ALLOW EDITING?!
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
If he'd done something like put his whistle behind his back and had the away team captain guess which hand it was it, the officials would have likely overlooked it. His mistake was making it amusing.
Stirling Coates
Editor
My tip has always been to tell your opponent what you're going to play in advance, you'd be surprised how often they outthink themselves and your honesty pays off!
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Always bet scissor