Umpire abuse refers to the act of

abuse Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

towards an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, or other

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

. The abuse can be

verbal abuse Verbal abuse (also known as verbal aggression, verbal attack, verbal violence, verbal assault, psychic aggression, or psychic violence) is a type of Psychological abuse, psychological/mental abuse that involves the use of Oral language, oral or w ...

(such as namecalling), or

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or ...

(such as

punching Punching is a forming process that uses a punch press to force a tool, called a '' punch'', through the workpiece to create a hole via shearing. Punching is applicable to a wide variety of materials that come in sheet form, including sheet me ...

). For example,

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

spectators use the term "white maggot" (derived from their formerly white uniforms) towards umpires at games, when they do not agree with an umpire's decision. Umpire abuse has become quite common in sport, practiced by players, coaches and spectators, with one

Australian Football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

league having half the

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...

cases heard about umpire abuse. There have also been some high-profile cases of abuse towards the umpires in sport, with one Australian football player suspended for life after striking an umpire.

Notable cases

In 1996,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) player

Roberto Alomar Roberto Alomar Velázquez (; ; born February 5, 1968) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seventeen seasons. He is regarded as one of the greatest second basemen and all-around pla ...

spat in umpire

John Hirschbeck John Francis Hirschbeck (born September 7, 1954) is a former umpire for Major League Baseball. He worked in the American League from 1984 to 1999 and worked in both leagues from 2000 to 2016. He was a crew chief at the time of his retirement, an ...

's face during a dispute. Alomar received a five-game

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

for the incident, but the punishment was served during the following season, and not the 1996 playoffs. MLB umpires, upset over the lack of an immediate suspension, threatened to go on

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

before a federal judge prevented them from doing so. During the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, Angel Valodia Matos from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

pushed and then kicked a referee in the face during a

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

match. He was disqualified for taking too much

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

in the

bronze medal match Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloids (suc ...

by referee Chakir Chelbat, before kicking Chelbat in the face. The referee required stitches in his lip after the attack. The

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, formerly the World Taekwondo Federation, is an international federation governing the sport of Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo. WT is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The World Taek ...

has banned Matos and his coach from taekwondo competitions for life. In 2016,

Mark Jamar Mark Jamar (born 9 August 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Jamar was born and raised in the co ...

, an Essendon

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

player has been fined $1500 for umpire abuse. The umpire,

Mathew Nicholls Mathew Nicholls (born 1977) is an Australian rules football field umpire in the Australian Football League. He officiated in the 2013 AFL Grand Final and the 2014 AFL Grand Final The 2014 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football g ...

, reported Jamar after he expressed his annoyance that he wasn't awarded a free kick in a marking contest.

Penalties

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

s and the like are trying to stop abuse towards umpires. In

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

, attempting to strike or striking an umpire, abusing or threatening an umpire, or disputing an umpires decision is a reportable offense, per the

Laws of Australian Football The laws of Australian rules football were first defined by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been amended over the years as Australian rules football evolved into its modern form. The Australian Football Council (AFC), was formed i ...

. It is also possible to send a player off for up to the remainder of the game for abusing an umpire, however this is only usually practiced at amateur and junior level. There have also been other programs trailed, such as making players suspended for umpire abuse attend umpire training sessions. In

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, the preamble to the

Laws of Cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code that specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744. Since 1788, the code has been owned and maintained by the private Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lord's Cr ...

state that it is not within the spirit of cricket to abuse an umpire, and to dispute their decisions. In

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, it is against the rules to dispute a

's decision, although the team captains can skate out and discuss the calls with the

s and

linesmen In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...

. After a warning (and a

minor penalty A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties ...

), arguing with a

, or starting a fight with a referee is grounds for a

game misconduct A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties ...

, which results in ejection for the offending player or coach. In

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, it is against the rules for any coach, manager, or player to question the

's judgement on a call on the field, or on balls and strikes. If a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, or player begins to walk toward the

with the intent to argue a call or balls and strikes, he will be warned to return to his bench or position. If he continues to advance, he will be ejected.

Legal implications

In the

criminal justice system Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

, some

jurisdictions Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple levels ...

mandate more severe penalties when a person commits a crime against a sports official immediately prior to, during, or immediately following any athletic contest in which the umpire, referee, or judge is participating in an official capacity. For instance, in the US state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, section 243.8 of the Penal Code specifies that

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

against a sports official shall result in a fine that does not exceed more than $2000, or imprisonment with the sentence not exceeding one year.

Battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

against a sports official has more severe penalties than simple battery against a civilian, as in section 243. California's maximum

incarceration Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

penalty for battery on a sports official is twice as lengthy as the maximum sentence for simple battery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umpire Abuse Abuse Sports officiating