Referee Abuse Prevention

AYSO National Rules, Regulations and Policies have been amended to adopt the US Soccer Policy 531-9 by incorporating the policy and penalties into AYSO’s pertinent governing documents:

§  Coaches, Referees, Officials, Other Volunteers, Spectators, Team Members and Other Participants must prohibit and abstain from making negative comments and complaints about officiating. Any abuse, assault and/or gross misconduct directed at any match official will be disciplined in accordance with U.S. Soccer Policy 531-9 Misconduct Toward Game Officials in Amateur Matches, which policy is effective March 2025.

§  Penalties/sanctions would range from several games to a lifetime ban depending on the severity of the offense.

§  Offenses conducted against youth officials will be punished at 3x the penalty against an adult.

§  Referees should continue to process the misconduct reports in the same manner as before:

§  Misconduct reports for team members (players and coaches) and Incident reports for Spectators must include the following:

o  Match details, including but not limited to team information, age group, score, and date

o  Detailed statement about the incident, including the specific details of the behavior or action (i.e., assault, abuse, mistreatment)

o  Specific language no matter how uncomfortable you may be writing it down