UMPIRES as young as 13 are being berated and abused while officiating junior football matches.
In the opening six rounds of the Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League, five adults have been suspended for umpire abuse. The suspended people include team officials and coaches.
One coach has been handed a lifetime ban, and an ex-AFL player is also alleged to have been involved in an incident.
A University of Sydney report into umpire abuse was leaked earlier this year. The report featured horrifying accounts of sexual harassment, racism, and abuse faced by female umpires across Australia.
A recent AFL crackdown on umpire dissent has also put the issue into the spotlight.
The MPJFL’s director of umpiring, Cooper Marriott, said that the problem needed to be stamped out. “With the current attention on the behaviour of players and supporters towards umpires I would like to share our league’s story in an attempt to not only gain new umpires but to stamp out the ongoing disrespect and total disgusting behaviour we see each week,” he said. “We have had in six rounds of football, five coaches [or] team officials reported and suspended for umpire abuse. That is grown men abusing kids as young as 13.”
