Vincent Kompany demands football authorities hit aggressive managers with tough punishments and backs Mail Sport’s campaign to clamp down on referee abuse

• Kompany called for managers to be hit with tougher punishments for outbursts
• Mail Sport has launched a campaign to help stamp out abuse of match officials
• Have you witnessed abuse of referees? Contact [email protected]

Vincent Kompany has called on the football authorities to hit aggressive managers with tougher punishments to deter copycat behaviour on the touchline.

The respected Burnley manager says most top bosses don’t want to be confrontational but sometimes step out of line because they fear rivals are gaining an advantage by getting in the officials’ ears.

On the day Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi escaped punishment for saying he disliked 80 per cent of England’s referees, Kompany made it clear a clampdown is the only way to stop technical-area histrionics from spreading.

Giving his backing to Mail Sport’s campaign to ‘Stop Abusing Referees’, Kompany said: ‘If we’re in a position where others might get an advantage, it becomes really difficult for us not to mimic the behaviour, although we don’t want to.

‘I’ve tried my whole life not to, but it’s difficult. If the League are hard and make a decision that they won’t accept abuse any more, and no team can gain an advantage out of it, then it will stop.

Vincent Kompany has backed Mail Sport’s campaign to clamp down on referee abuse

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi escaped punishment for saying he disliked 80 per cent of England’s referees

Mail Sport has launched a campaign to stop the abuse of referees at all levels of the game

Your browser does not support iframes.

‘The managers I’ve met are reasonable, likeable, sensible people. I can’t imagine we all enjoy ranting and raving. There is more that goes into our work than that. It is about whether you think you will get a competitive advantage.’

GET IN TOUCH 

We want to hear from refs who have been abused – or parents who have witnessed atrocious behaviour on the touchline

Email us at: [email protected]

Kompany, speaking before De Zerbi’s let-off was revealed, cited an example from his time as Manchester City skipper as evidence that a tougher stance would work.

‘There was a massive thing for players from the top teams to surround referees. I remember we had a meeting about this with the referees and I was one of the captains,’ he explained.

‘Our team was not doing that too much but I did say to the referees, “Look, if the others are getting an advantage because of it and they are influencing the referees, I am getting pressure from my team saying why aren’t we doing it?”

‘So the Premier League did something really good. They started putting big fines on the teams who were doing it and red cards and sanctions.

‘As soon as they did that, it went in a completely different direction. It would be the same regarding coaches now.

‘The behaviour does go all the way to grassroots football. The biggest thing to try to stop it happening is to have a consistent approach at every level.’

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

Your browser does not support iframes.

Source: Read Full Article