“Ref, what was that for?!”
That’s a not uncommon cry from the sidelines when giving free kicks or getting the cards out. There a few things you can do to lessen it.
- ESCALATION: If a caution is deserved for ongoing dissent or for repeatedly infringing the Laws of the game, it shouldn’t be a total surprise. It should have been clear to anyone watching (and especially the player!). A gentle word, a more public rebuke, stopping play to have a stronger word… all should have featured. In the sense of something more serious then naturally some of these can be skipped. In such cases it will be obvious to the sidelines anyway!
- POINT: This is especially useful for Repeated Infringement. Point to the different areas of the pitch where the other infringements were. Count them! That way everyone is getting the idea. This stops the interpretation that you had let the other fouls go but are now seemingly penalising a ‘soft’ one.
- COMING BACK FROM ADVANTAGE: There may be a caution-worthy challenge but advantage is played. Clearly you do need to sort the caution out afterwards but it could be around a minute before that happens. At the time of the foul, naturally call advantage but how about a, “I’m coming back to you, number six!” and point? It won’t be a surprise when you go back for a chat.
I’d welcome any of your own advice on how to make your thinking process clear to those that are standing some distance away…