The FA will support FIFA's Fair Play Day at Wembley next week.
The FA will be backing FIFA’s Fair Play Day at Wembley next week, with a series of activities centred around England’s Euro 2012 Championship Qualifier against Bulgaria.
Fair play is a principle The FA endorses year-round through its ongoing Respect programme, which is now in its third full year. Respect is the collective responsibility of everyone involved in football to create a fair, safe and enjoyable environment in which the game can take place.
Prior to the Bulgaria fixture there will be a pre-match procession of Fair Play and Respect flags on the Wembley pitch, while the England team will pose in front of a Fair Play and Respect promotional board prior to kick-off.
Inside the stadium the giant screen will show Respect good practice films and adverts, as well as footage from the Respect Awards ceremony hosted by Prince William at The 2010 FA Cup Final in May. England players will also be personally endorsing the Fair Play day in their get-together prior to the fixture.
Meanwhile, the match day programme will carry editorial on the FIFA Fair Play day and Respect, as well as reprinting the FIFA Fair Play charter to:
- Play fair
- Play to win but accept defeat with dignity
- Observe the laws of the game
- Respect opponents, team-mates, referees, officials and spectators
- Promote the interests of football
- Honour those who defend football’s good reputation
- Reject corruption, drugs, racism, violence, gambling and other dangers to our sport
- Help others to resist corrupting pressures
- Denounce those who attempt to discredit our sport
- Use football to make a better world
The latest Respect figures yet again show the positive effect it is having on the game in England, with the domestic professional game leading the way in improving behaviour on the pitch.
At the top level of the game in 2009/10 there was an overall reduction in dissent cautions in ten out of the 16 senior leagues compared to numbers in 2008/09. Across the Premier League, Football League, Football Conference, Isthmian, Northern and Southern Leagues there was a six per cent decline in dissent cautions.
The Premier League and Football Leagues were the standard bearers for dissent cautions being down, with the top four divisions showing a nine per cent decrease overall and the Premier League and Football League Championship experiencing falls of 23 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.
In the national game, dissent cautions fell by 3.3 per cent, misconduct charges fell by 3.2 per cent and there was a two per cent drop in dismissals in 2009/10 compared with 2008/09.
In 2008/09 The FA received 534 reports of referees being assaulted at the grassroots level of the game. Supported by the ‘Are You Losing It?’ campaign, figures for assaults were down to 466 in 2009/10, showing a 13 per cent decrease.
During year three the focus for the Respect programme is an ongoing zero tolerance policy towards assaults on referees. Furthermore, Respect aims to make football an enjoyable experience and promote an environment in children’s football which is conducive to them having fun and developing their technical skills.
Respect aims to see a further step change in youth football as to what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour from parents and spectators. Real and lasting change remains the responsibility of not just the footballing authorities but everyone involved in football to take collective accountability.
More specifically, The FA will promote improved working and communication between the County FAs, Leagues, Clubs and the welfare officer network to ensure that there are clear channels to report and challenge poor practice and misconduct.
The FA will also produce versions of Respect for use in secondary schools and for use by commercial small sided football operators. An online Referees Respect training module will be introduced in November to replicate the successful approach of the Respect parent’s guide.
