Thousands of referees to strike over on-pitch abuse

Thousands of amateur referees are planning a strike in protest over the treatment they receive on the pitch.

Ryan Hampson, who has organised the walk-out, says "more than 2,000 people up and down the country" will be taking part on 4 and 5 March.

"I've been head-butted, spat at and punched on numerous occasions," the 18-year-old tells Newsbeat.

"We're not safe - we want more help and more security. Enough's enough, change is needed."

Ryan Hampson started referring when he was 14

Ryan says lots of teams treat referees with respect but there are also some "really bad sides that need to sort themselves out".

He adds: "I don't think The FA is doing enough in terms of supporting referees.

"If they were, why would 2,000 referees be striking?

"Referees do not feel supported up and down this country.

"We want assaults of referees to stop. One referee assault is bad enough but at the moment it's going on all the time."

Among Ryan's suggestions is a change in the rules to let referees wear body cams on the pitch.

At the moment, officials are not allowed to carry any technology during a game, other a watch.

The FA said it has "been in dialogue" and "spoken at length with Ryan" about the strikes.

It said 880,000 youth and adult affiliated grassroots football matches had been played in England last season.

"From this, there were 111 proven cases of assaults and under FA regulations - this means those offenders are now banned from all football activity," the organisation said.

"And, after eight seasons in existence, we have given the Respect campaign some renewed focus by appointing a dedicated campaign manager to help continue this important work."

Ryan's due to meet with the FA again on 10 March and says he's been told Neale Barry, the FA's head of senior referee development, will be discussing the topic at the FA's referee committee later this month.

The Manchester FA, which oversees the league Ryan works in, has said it will visit referees within 24 hours of an incident and report any assaults to police.

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