Troy Maclure
Rookie
We waited for a week at Parkdale and discovered nothing was happening.
Last saturday the umpire's escort from AJAX fronted the umpire after the game. He abused him, pushed his finger into his chest then pushed his elbow into the umpire.
Stay tuned to the vafa's findings..................
I don't think you'll get a proper and reasonable finding.
From the outcome (allegedly AJAX received a small fine), I would think that Sholly & Co. have set a very dangerous precedent going forward.
The league tries hard to recruit umpires and promises to protect them (at least that's what they tell you and I). They even made a new rule where an umpire can award a free kick to a team if the opposition's supporters are being too critical... - I'm not sold on that one yet, but in the scheme of things it doesn't matter.
In a nutshell there's been a lot of chest puffing from HQ over the past few years about the importance of the men in white for out great game, and how it is both ours and their great responsibility to ensure we can attract and retain quality umpires... that's fair enough too.
But where to now?
Following the Ajax v Parkdale game there was a report lodged on the umpire's report sheet about an AJAX official (the umpires escort of all things) 'allegedly' pushing, finger poking and screaming (no better make that 'talking very loudly' just to be safe) about being a 'cheat' - even giving him the most un-vafa-like comment of "you're not welcome in the rooms either"! (Boo)
This harassment by the 'official' was so far in the Ump's face all the way off the ground, that the Parkdale Umpire Escort had to become a bit of a security guard against his counterpart and protect the ump.
Early the following week, I've been told, the umpire requested for an investigation to occur and the league spoke with someone at AJAX, that was it, job done... no tribunal appearance, nothing. And I'm lead to believe that not one person from Parkdale (let alone the Umpire Escort) was even contacted to discuss the matter, at least to provide a statement of what happened.
The result... it gets brushed under the table with a small fine and the reasoning of "it was out of character".
Other players, clubs etc would cop a hiding for this kind of behavior. Just look at what happenned with the St Bede's v OEG melee - which didn't even includes the umps. The OEG coach was booted for the year.
Other leagues would hand out very hefty fines and more likely large suspensions, especially with what's been happening recently.
But No, not us... the matter is now closed.
What happens next time a club official "abuses" an umpire? It would seem that all you'll have to have to do is say "it was out of character", hand over a few $100 bills and off you go... I mean, if it's good enough for Ajax, then surely it's good enough for the rest of us? Precedent set Round 17, 2009.
Oh, and a special note to the umpires... please don't feel intimidated or threatened when someome starts pushing you, screaming at you and calling you a cheat... that's now normal practice in the great VAFA.
...but we will still protect you!





