Examining abuse: the importance of governing bodies in sport

Abuse towards match officials is prevalent across sports. The abuse to which referees and umpires are exposed can also impact upon the recruitment and retention rates of these officials, and as such the role of governing bodies forms an important area of understanding when considering matters related to the abuse of match officials. Therefore, this chapter considers the landscape in England across sports and considers incidents of abuse from the perspective of the match officials themselves. Utilising descriptive statistics from online surveys across football, cricket rugby union and rugby league in England, and supplemented by qualitative responses from match officials, findings consider the extent of abuse across sports and some of the issues presented for both governing bodies and the individual match officials themselves.