Misconduct of Spanish grassroots soccer coaches through referees’ reports: Variability by match format, age category, sex, and severity

Abstract

This study aimed to describe and analyse the disciplinary sanctions received by grassroots soccer coaches in the Valencian Community (Spain) over five seasons. Specific objectives included determining the influence of format (8-a-side or 11-a-side), age (U7, U9, U11, U13, U15, and U18), sex category (male or female), and sanction severity (mild [one to four matches] or serious [five matches to a full season]). A study was conducted based on referees’ records from 275,844 games played in 1401 league competitions during five subsequent seasons between 2014 and 2019 in Valencia (Spain). A total of 3563 sanctions were recorded by matchday referees, with the majority being minor offences (92.93%) and most being imposed on 11-a-side soccer coaches (87%). The most frequent reasons for sanctions pertained to protests to referees (28%); dismissal due to double reprimands (26.40%); contemptuous and inconsiderate attitudes towards referees, including insults and threats (19.53%); and direct sending-offs (8.84%). Significantly more mild sanctions were found than serious ones, with more sanctions emerging in the 11-a-side soccer than in the 8-a-side soccer and the men's category compared to the women's category. Finally, we found significantly more sanctions in the U18 men's category compared to all other younger age categories and in the U15 men's category compared to the U7, U9 and U9-U11 female categories (p < .05).