Blowing the Whistle: Investigating the Psychological Consequences of Referee Abuse in Sport

Abstract

In today's sports landscape, there is a prominent emphasis on ensuring a safe environment for athletes yet the critical issue of safeguarding the well-being of sporting officials (i.e., referees) has been vastly overlooked. This oversight is evident not only at the professional level, but also in youth competitive settings. In collaboration with Ontario Soccer, Saskatchewan Soccer Association, and British Columbia Soccer, the experiences of referee abuse were examined in 1183 primarily White (66.8%) referees (80.8%; 17.6% women, and 1.6% gender diverse) working in Ontario, Saskatchewan, or British Columbia. Results indicated that the abuse of referees was common across the three provinces with 34.9% reporting being physically abused and 94.2% reported being verbally abused while officiating. Consistent with initial predictions, referees encountering higher levels of abuse reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to those with lower exposure. Contrary to predictions, women and racialized referees were not abused at higher rates than men and White referees. In fact, White referees reported higher rates of physical abuse than racial/ethnic minority referees. When examining the moderating role of gender, results indicated that gender did not moderate the relation between physical abuse and symptoms of either depression or anxiety. However, gender did moderate the relation between verbal abuse and depression symptoms; there was a significant positive association for both men and women and the effect was stronger in women. Similarly, gender moderated the link between verbal abuse and anxiety symptoms, such that female referees who were verbally abused reported more symptoms of anxiety than male referees who were verbally abused. Race/ethnicity did not moderate the relation between exposure to either physical or verbal referee abuse and symptoms of depression or anxiety. Finally, gender and race/ethnicity were not associated with an increase in abused referees with the exception that men reported higher average physical abuse. Given the high prevalence of abuse reported, there is an urgent need to create programs and establish policies to enhance the safety of Canadian soccer referees.