Message to all Clubs from the County Secretary

Before Christmas the Referees brought to my attention the increased use of Club Web Sites to castigate referees, particularly when a club has lost. Such is the severity of some of these web reports that they could be classified as “Referee Abuse”, made more serious by being written and made available to a larger public.

Yorkshire RFU would like to remind all clubs that a recent RFU mail shot on Core Values stressed “Respect”, on and off the pitch, this includes Web Sites. If clubs continue to use their Web Sites in an intemperate manner then they must accept the fact that they leave themselves open to being charged with Referee Abuse.

It is hoped that the above message will be brought to the attention of all club members who have responsibility for posting information on Club Web Sites. A club is in exactly the same position as a newspaper publisher and is responsible for all Web Site postings, in exactly the same way that a Newspaper Proprietor, Editor and letter writer can be held jointly responsible for anything printed. We are aware that some clubs need to tighten up the control they have over items printed on their Web Sites, this message is primarily about possible abuse of referees but wider implications should be recognised and action taken where needed.

I left this communication until after New Year as it was too serious to risk getting lost in the festive clutter. I hope the rest of the 2009/10 season progresses smoothly and successfully for all clubs.

Regards

Ian Leask

Hon Secretary - Yorkshire RFU