While many acknowledge that the abuse and assault of referees is endemic in American sports culture,few people seem willing to carry out anything approximately itNearly every single day, a sports official becomes the victim of verbal abuse or physical assault. This isn’t just true of professional and collegiate referees – all of whom receive the protection of a security detail – but of the hundreds of thousands of referees who officiate youth and amateur recreational matches across the United States, and many of whom are under 18 years of age.
In a detailed survey of over 17000 referees conducted final year by the National Association of Sports Officials,87% of respondents said that they had suffered from verbal abuse in their role as officials and 13% responded that they had been physically assaulted before, during, or after a game. That’s nearly one out of every seven officials.
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Source: guardian.co.uk