News1 min ago
Football Referees
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Are football referees in youth leagues allowed to be related to players or coaches for either team? Thanks
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Football referees have to declare any connection to a particular team to the County FA when they register each year. However such a declaration doesn't necessarily prevent them from being appointed to officiate in any particular match. (It's entirely at the discretion of the Referees' Secretary for the relevant league or competition).
Yes. It happens a lot in local junior football. When I was a referee a few years ago there was a rule in the local leagues- I think it was an FA rule- that if the official referee didn't turn up or the league had no referee available, the the officials of the clubs involved in the game had to agree on a referee between them. Sometimes each manager took half the game, although that probably wasn't really allowed as I think it's supposed to be the same ref throughout for consistency