Teen referee speaks up on abuse in the game

Oscar has been a referee since September

A teenage football referee who was reduced to tears during a tournament has said he would not be deterred by bullying.

Oscar, 14, from Oxfordshire, faced verbal abuse ahead of a final at a girl's summer tournament from adults who had not agreed with some of his decisions during the semi-final.

His father David, who is also a referee, said that despite the opposition he had received, Oscar had not backed down.

Claire Finn, secretary of the Oxfordshire FA Girls' Football League, said she would request the presence of respect marshals at tournaments.

David, who is also a referee, said Oscar "did a fantastic job"

Oscar is in his first year of refereeing, having started last September.

He and his dad were working together for the first time when he faced the abuse.

Despite the opposition, he still refereed the match, as well as the final that followed.

"I remained impartial but it is difficult to hold those emotions back," his dad David said.

He added his son had "composed himself, came back" and "as I trusted that he would, he did a fantastic job".

"It's sad that it's something that we have to adapt and deal with," Oscar said.

But he added he was "still going to go with the things that I think are right".

His message to players, managers and parents taking part in the upcoming summer tournaments was "to be respectful".

"I'm around the same age as these players and people need to understand that and respect me," he said.

"Without me, it doesn't go ahead. They need to understand my importance to their game."

David and Oscar were working together for the first time at the same tournament where Oscar faced abuse

Ms Finn said that as a league, they were seeing "more and more" similar issues at games.

"I think there's an element of perspective that people need to have - these are children playing football," she said.

"I would request that all clubs, particularly at tournaments, have respect marshals walking around.

"We can't ruin children playing football and young referees refereeing."

Ms Finn encouraged everyone to call out bad behaviour "in the right way".

Rob Porter, a coach at the charity Oxford United in the Community, said respect marshals were "a really fantastic idea, so that they keep an eye on the behaviour".

"Tournament organisers are the next step above the referee to make sure everything is going well and going smoothly," he added.