Murray United coach James Coutts has labelled an incident after Saturday’s derby against Goulburn Valley Suns (GVS) as “nothing short of a disgrace”.
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The Border outfit, who lost the clash 3-1, is set to take further action with Football Federation Victoria (FFV) after a linesman allegedly struck one of the club’s under 20s players during an exchange on the sidelines moments after the game at Shepparton.
Coutts revealed the official works with Shepparton’s local association and has had previous run-ins with the club.
“If officials react every time they get provoked by supporters or players (in a game), you can’t just take the law into your own hands,” Coutts said.
“There will be reports to FFV and we’ll be putting in a strong case because this can’t happen.
When you have a linesman attempt to strike an 18-year-old after the game, that’s inexcusable.
- James Coutts
“We need to see what the criteria is to officiate in NPL, because on the basis of yesterday’s (Saturday’s) incident, it needs to be looked at.
“When you have a linesman attempt to strike an 18-year-old after the game, that’s inexcusable.”
Coutts said the referee lost control.
“I think the tone was set after two minutes when Sean Pye got cleaned up after the ball had gone and no booking was given,” he said.
“There were incidents in the game that you would deem as bookable offences from both sides, which i felt created a scrappy game.”
Coutts has called upon the NPL and FFV to have a close look at what should be done to prevent these situations from occurring again.
“They’ve got a linesman who has notoriously had issues,” Coutts said.
“If any official gets found guilty of abusing a player or supporter, in my opinion, they shouldn’t be officiating in NPL.
“I’ve been in the game a long time and I’ve never witnessed anything like I saw yesterday (on Saturday).”
A tribunal hearing is set to be held in the coming weeks by FFV involving all parties.