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Published 15:45 12 Feb 2021 GMT
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While he welcomes the recent letter sent by football authorities to Twitter and Facebook as a small step in the right direction, Field says the prevalence of negative comments about officials - both on social media and within the media itself - has exacerbated the problem.
"When you get respected pundits describing decisions as the worst they’ve ever seen in their lives, or calling officials idiots, all that energy is being listened to by some people who think it validates their abuse," he said. "Everyone in the football family has a role to play in making sure this stops."
Field believes the key to solving the issue is through tougher sanctions of those abusing officials and better education on the complexities of being an official. As well as calling on FA Council members to back a proposal which demands tougher sentencing around assaults and abuse towards referees, he says the governing body must also do more to raise awareness of the laws of the game and what the role entails. "The FA do not educate coaches on pitch-side behaviour towards referees. County Football Associations, on the whole, are letting football down. There's also the issue that the wider public - and in some cases people within the media - don't always know the laws of the game, which leads to unfair criticism of referees. If the laws of the game could be easily accessed and broken down in an easy-to-understand way, that would help the general public understand why certain decisions are made and how difficult the job actually is. "In a few weeks there’s a proposal going forward to the FA Council about increasing the sentencing around assaults and abuse towards match officials. I think anyone who votes against it should have a hard look in the mirror and consider their position. I don't see why anyone would want to vote against protecting referees with tougher sanctions." he adds. "That has to happen if this situation is to improve."Football

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