Dutch consider scrapping offside rule to quell amateur football violence

Increasing incidents could force a major rule change at grassroots level

Virgil van Dijk hit out at referee Felix Zwayer (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)

The Dutch football association is considering getting rid of the offside rule for amateur matches in a bid to quash increasing violence.

Last season, 1,864 matches were halted due to violent incidents caused by disputed decisions, reports Reuters. This is a 58% increase over a five-year-period and an 11% increase from the year before, a rise that could prompt the Dutch governing body to intervene.

"It is true that it is a relatively small number compared to the almost 780,000 matches that are played annually, but we are not going to trivialise it," said KNVB director Jan Dirk van der Zee.

"We have a problem, and we want to eradicate it. I do not rule out that we will one day stop using assistant referees.”

As in England, most amateur Dutch matches include assistant referees who are not properly trained and are likely affiliated with the clubs that are playing.

Grassroots football across Europe faces a shortage of officials. In January, BBC Sport reported that 1,451 cases of abuse against amateur referees were logged in England, including death threats and assaults, with one 17-year-old referee bursting into tears after a fight broke out between managers, players and parents.

Another referee, a 15-year-old named Rohan who was overseeing an under-12s match, detailed the physical and verbal abuse he and another child received.

“One of the assistant managers threw my flag into the ground, breaking it," said Rohan.

"Then he pushed this 11-year-old player on the side line, and after the game he came up to me and made a joke about my heritage because of where I’m from."

“I was racially abused on several occasions,” said Rohan, who has Indian heritage.

"I’m proud of my heritage, but it does feel at times, like being bullied. You know, sometimes it did make me want to give up as well.”

Such incidents will drive people away from becoming professional referees, who face the public backlash of any poor decision in a confronting way due to the exposure of television punditry and social media.

English referees chief Howard Webb said behavioural standards in professional football have been “allowed to decline” in July 2023, a problem that results in “copycat behaviour” in the grassroots game.