Punched referee says match attack 'not taken seriously'

A referee who was punched in the face and left bleeding during a match in west London says he feels police are not taking his attack seriously.

Satyam Toki was hit by a footballer he had sent off for foul language at a game in Acton, Ealing, on 9 August.

Mr Toki, a train conductor from west London, said he contacted the Met Police on 11 August and was still waiting for his statement to be taken.

The Met said the investigation was ongoing and no arrests had been made.

It said it was not made aware of the assault until 21 August.

Who protects referees?

Mr Toki claims he was asked not to press charges as the player who punched him might lose his job.

Martin Cassidy Chief Executive of Ref Support UK, said Football Association (FA) rules had led to confusion about who was responsible for protecting referees.

"When you cross the white line on to a football pitch the laws of the land appear to be left behind and people can assaults referees," Mr Cassidy said.

"The police will say 'oh it is an FA matter,' and the FA say we can't deal with it until the police say if there is a charge or not."

Referees were often too scared to report assaults, Mr Cassidy added.

Satyam Toki said referees often did not report assaults for fear of reprisals

'One too many'

"Because the referee lives near to where they normally referee, they're going to see the people who assaulted them," he said.

A spokesperson for the Football Association said: "London FA and The FA take any assault on a referee extremely seriously.

"While only 0.01% of approximately 850,000 matches played each season in grassroots football include a reported incident of assault, we recognise that any assault or incident of abuse is one too many."

The footballer who threw the punch has been "completely removed" from his team Sporting Club de Mundial.