There are an increasing number of people who are regularly making themselves available to Clubs to referee matches when they have not registered with the Association.
The regulations of The Football Association state that every referee must have received appropriate Safeguarding Children training in addition to completing a CRB check. Referees who do not fulfill this requirement will not have been allowed to register for season 2008/2009 onwards.
Please also note that from September, 2008, it has been a criminal offence for anyone to work in a paid or voluntary capacity with children (U18), unless they have an accepted CRB check. The Association, League, Club and individual referee or Club official are all responsible and have a legal responsibility to ensure that these requirements are carried out.
Please note the following in relation to this:
• People regularly refereeing whilst not registered will invalidate the public liability insurance cover for a club which is provided by the Association and will not be covered for public liability insurance or personal accident insurance for themselves as an individual.
• Stand-in referees are covered by the Public Liability Insurance. The definition of a stand-in referee is a bone-fide member of a club who referees on a one-off basis when a registered referee is unavailable. A stand-in referee does not referee on a regular basis.
• A referee who fails to register with the Association for two consecutive seasons is deemed as not qualified and is required to re-take the referee examination in order to renew registration.