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Ref Protest Could See Most Football Matches Postponed
Almost every senior men’s football fixture in the island this coming weekend is at risk of postponement because of a potential referee protest.
Gef understands that Saturday’s fixtures in the Canada Life Premier League, Ardern and Druggan Division Two plus the combination leagues have been thrown into doubt, along with the women’s games on Sunday.
The reason for the proposed protest has not been revealed.
But the Isle of Man Football Association is hopeful of averting any mass postponements and are set to hold so-called crisis talks on Wednesday evening.
Refereeing numbers have dwindled in recent years to such an extent that it is rare for a match to have assistant referees in addition to the man or woman in the middle.
Indeed, on several occasions an auxiliary referee has been required to step in: an unofficial match official called upon when regular referees are unavailable.
These individuals have the same powers as a qualified referee to issue cards and report misconduct but require agreement from both clubs to officiate a match.
The low number of officials has caused several postponements in recent seasons, but it appears to have now reached a potential breaking point and that most of this weekend’s fixtures are in danger of not going ahead.
It is believed that that only three matches – Ayre v St Mary’s and the reverse combination fixture plus Douglas & District v Governor’s Athletic in Combi Two – have referees appointed for Saturday’s scheduled games.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Man FA confirmed that an emergency meeting will take place on Wednesday in the hope of solving some behind-the-scenes problems and that they are still aiming for Saturday’s games to go ahead.
