Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill joked that he had just signed his death warrant.
With managers and players signing a charter spelling out acceptable standards of behavior, the English Premier League regards its latest initiative to clean up soccer’s tarnished image as vital in eliminating damaging incidents.
Last season was condemned as a low point for the decline of respect shown toward referees. The flashpoint which sparked the largest outcry was Chelsea defender Ashley Cole turning his back on Mike Riley while being booked for a reckless challenge.
PHOTO: AP
“We have reached the stage where the whole situation needs correcting,” Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said at the launch on Tuesday on the eve of the new season.
“We need the excesses skimming off the top. It is difficult to say that without making it appear that we are trying to sanitize everything. That is not what we are saying at all. We want the passion and rivalries — what we don’t want is some of that blatant disrespect and abuse,” he said.
O’Neill was sent off last August for disputing the amount of injury time.
“It’s me signing my death warrant,” quipped O’Neill. “I’m slightly concerned I’ll be the first sent to the stands as I was last year for a rather innocuous decision last season ... But I think the idea’s terrific to cut out the excesses.”
O’Neill and the league’s other 19 managers will no longer be able to see TV replays in the dugout, preventing their rage from boiling over after seeing decisions go against them.
“At times, and this came into sharp focus last season, incidents crop up where the mark is overstepped and player and manager behavior can become unacceptable,” Scudamore said. “The referees have a responsibility, too. In forging better relationships with team captains and the other players, and by communicating in the right way, it will help the players and that will make the game better for everyone.”
Captains will be expected to help referees to control games, meeting them before kickoff in Premier League matches and being called upon to help the officials stamp out incidents of dissent during matches.
Chelsea skipper John Terry, who raced over to challenge the referee during Cole’s much-maligned incident last February, said he doesn’t want players to be used as scapegoats.
“It’s unfair to pick one person or player or one club,” the England defender said. “I could show you a hundred videos of players committing offenses. We’ve all done it.”
Terry welcomed the clarity in the new guidelines after being uncertain about who can approach referees without it appearing to be a hostile approach.
“Referees have got a tough job and don’t have access to replays. We realize that,” Terry said.
“It won’t be matey matey now — there will still be the tempo, the aggression that makes this the best league in the world. The Premiership is the best for those reasons and we need to get a balance,” he said.
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