Introduction

An Overview of Misconduct Processing

This page contains an Overview description of how a Misconduct Report is managed by the Misconduct Project and how it is handled by the various entities within the site.

Referee files Misconduct Report

When Misconduct occurs during a sanctioned Soccer Match, the Laws of the Game permit the Referee to recognize it through the use of a Caution (Yellow) or SendOff (Red) card. For each Card issued during a Match, the Referee should complete a single Misconduct Report on the Misconduct Project site or through the equivalent function on their own Chapter Site.

Once the Referee has completed the Misconduct Report and marks it "New", the Misconduct is assigned to a specific Authority.

Committee accepts the Misconduct Report

The Authority has one or more individuals designated as their Disciplinary "Committee". Some Authorities may identify this function by a different name, but the Misconduct Project uses the term Committee to identify those individuals that are responsible for reviewing and adjudicating Misconduct Reports for the Authority.

A Committee member logs onto the Misconduct Project and is presented with the Misconduct Reports that have been assigned to the Authority's Committee and are in "New" status. If the Committee plans to review the Misconduct, the Committee member changes the Misconduct status to "Pending" (meaning, the Misconduct is currently undergoing Committee review). Up to this point, the Referee CAN update the Misconduct to clarify anything that may not have been completely clear when the report was originally filed. Once the Misconduct is changed to Pending status, the Referee can no longer modify it (the Committee can, but not the Referee).

Committee reviews the Misconduct Report

The Committee then follows the Authority's applicable Judicial procedures. This may include holding a formal meeting with other members, soliciting testimony from the carded individual, etc., but the precise mechanism and procedure is up to the individual Authority.

When the Committee has reviewed the card and rendered a decision about it, the Committee member returns to the Misconduct Site and updates the Misconduct Report with an appropriate Status (Upheld, Denied, etc.). The Committee does have the opportunity to indicate what punishment has been dispensed as a result of the card, should they so choose to do so.

Misconduct Report Review

The information associated with the Misconduct is subsequently available to the Referee that filed the Report, as well as the applicable Authority and Committee (and any Users that are defined as representing the Authority, participating on the Committee, or as a representative of the submitting Chapter).

The submittor can see all of the Misconduct except the Committee's notes and all portions pertaining to the Voting mechanism.

This is a key element of the Misconduct Project, where the responsible parties can summarize Card activity for Matches within their responsibility area. It also permits Referees to improve their ability to provide adequate reports to the Committees for their review (there's no better teacher than a Misconduct Report that has been Denied as a result of an inappropriate application of the Laws).