I want to update the football community of the steps we’re taking to meet the challenge of bad behaviour in football. It’s an issue that affects every club, and takes away from the great things football offers. This will take a concerted effort in 2025, and is a big focus for our team. 

Football can give us so much – unforgettable experiences, health and friendships, to name just a couple. Thousands of volunteers give up their time to serve their clubs and communities through football – that’s worth supporting and celebrating, and we know the vast majority of people in football participate with the right attitude, helping set and keep standards for others.

We see and recognise your leadership and want to assure you work is underway to support you.

There have been a number of sideline incidents that have received high profile media coverage, and many of you have got in touch to express your concern. It’s shocking for the people involved, concerning for the whole community and affects the reputation of the game. There’s no place for this in football.

The game is better with respect – for your club, team mates and supporters. 

All sports are facing this issue– there’s no magic wand we can wave, it will take a concerted and aligned effort. This is a call to action for all clubs - here’s a summary of what NRF and our partners are doing, in behaviour, disciplinary, refereeing and safeguarding to support clubs and their communities to make a positive change for 2025.

Please share your feedback and any ideas or work your club has underway – we’ll make a greater positive impact by working together. 

Thanks 

Laura Menzies, NRF CE 

Behaviour

• NRF is set to play our part in an Auckland wide, multi sport sideline behaviour campaign Love Their Game that’s being developed by Aktive 
  • This will include a social media campaign featuring Love Their Game ambassadors, along with a champions programme, activations, supporting messages and collateral clubs are welcome to use in their communities 
  • The programme is set to roll out in early 2025 – we will share more detail when it’s available and work with clubs to help embed this in football
• Aktive’s Good Sports programme  has been running in Northland since 2019 – in that time, there’s been a significant positive impact in sideline behaviour, and on the attitudes of parents , coaches and players alike
  • Good Sports includes valuable insights into Sport NZ’s ‘Balance is Better’ philosophy and gives parents and coaches a better understanding of expectations and loading on junior players, with extremely positive reaction and feedback
  • NRF has helped roll out Good Sports at junior festivals, reminding parents and supporters what good sideline behaviour looks like, with positive results. Get in touch if you’d to incorporate Good Sports at your festival 

Disciplinary
The NRF Board has approved these changes to our disciplinary framework, giving us new options to encourage and uphold higher standards of behaviour on the field.  

• Three strikes for repetitive poor behaviour – unfortunately, we receive a number of bad behaviour reports in community competitions without appointed officials, where the emphasis should be on fun, participation and comradery with team mates. Three strikes is about addressing that behaviour with a new set of tools 
  • Poor behaviour can include multiple incident reports being received about a team and their coaches or supporters across multiple games for issues like on-field aggression, abuse of match officials, in community or youth competitions
  • Sanctions can include warnings, fines, suspensions, points deductions or removal from competitions
• Temporary dismissals – in 2025, all senior and youth competitions with appointed match officials from LOTTO NRFL down will use a temporary dismissal rule. In effect, any player issued a yellow card for dissent will be sent from the field for ten minutes. This immediate impact on the player and team is designed to discourage this unwanted behaviour. Temporary dismissals are being trialled across the country to assess its impact in reducing dissent during matches
• Increased dissent fines in NZF Disciplinary code –red card fees attributed toward referee dissent, abuse, intimidation or assault will be doubled from $75 to $150, alongside the match suspension

More details are available at nrf.org.nz/regulations. 

NRF will keep working to support clubs when things go wrong and always investigate incidents when we receive incident reports. We’ve worked over time to bring new and diverse voices and perspectives into our disciplinary committee and processes, which is making a positive impact. 

Supporting referees and match officials 
NRF’s referee recruitment and retention plan is due to roll out in 2025, to support our focus on increasing the number of referees and their ongoing development. It’s been developed by our referee team alongside the Referee Advisory Committee, and aims to better support and recognise the referees we have now to keep them engaged and participating for longer. 

• Focus on helping new referees through their first three years – we know that if we can support a new referee through this time, they’re much more likely to stay in the game. This is being worked through, but could include stronger measures for misconduct against new or youth referees 
• Referee assistance programme, designed to provide support mechanisms for referees based on the negative experiences they have on a weekend 
• More meaningful recognition 

Safeguarding

NRF is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable football environment for all – this programme helps clubs develop and implement safeguarding policies and includes:  

• Guidelines and templates for clubs to develop and embed their own safeguarding policy
• Safeguarding training 
• Free police vetting for coaches and club volunteers 

All our resources for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults are available at nrf.org.nz/safeguarding.
 

Article added: Thursday 19 December 2024