Parent harassment leads to decline in young referees at Sibbo-Vargarna football club in Finland

During a youth football match last week, a parent from a rival team shouted in frustration, “Get that body off the field,” after a player from the Sipoo-based team fell. This incident was reported by Heidi Jernmark, the operations manager of the football club Sibbo-Vargarna. Over the years, young referees have faced similar harassment from parents during children’s football matches, with some as young as 12 years old.

Sibbo-Vargarna first became aware of this issue when they noticed a sharp decline in their trained young referees. Despite training 70 young officials in collaboration with the Finnish Football Association, only a few remained after a couple of years. Erja Koivunen, the club’s referee coordinator, noted that interviews with the young referees indicated that the verbal abuse from parents and coaches was a primary reason for their departure.

To combat this issue, Sibbo-Vargarna has implemented a model where each young referee is accompanied by an adult support person during matches. This initiative has significantly improved the atmosphere at games, according to Koivunen. Parents have become more amiable, expressing gratitude toward referees, which encourages young officials to continue in their roles.

The Finnish Football Association has also launched a nationwide Fair Play campaign, deploying parent volunteers in orange vests at children’s matches to promote positive behavior. Meanwhile, the Helsinki Football Club HJK announced stricter penalties for poor parental behavior, including temporary bans from matches.

Frey Hemnell, a 16-year-old referee from Sibbo-Vargarna, expressed satisfaction with the presence of adult support during matches, feeling it provides security against disruptive behavior from the crowd.