Question:
I have always been told that when a referee is red carded as a player that he isn’t allowed to referee or participate in any soccer related activity until he/she sits out red card the suspension. This has recently came up in our area and the referee contends that this is strictly a local policy enforced by the local playing association and he could referee any other place other than locally while sitting out the red card suspension. When I started trying to research this matter I can’t find anything in writing concerning suspension of referees (from refereeing games) while sitting out a red card received as a player. Can you shed some light on this matter one way or the other?USSF answer (May 22, 2007):
We are not aware of any formal guidelines in this situation. It would seem appropriate for the state association to govern such matters.
