A former Welsh football referee has claimed the abuse he suffered during the process made him “question whether it was worth it”.
Sean Regan, who spent six months in the occupation before resigning, said there was “a real cultural problem”.
The 40-year-old added: “I don’t think we can be proud to be involved in football.”
It comes as a grassroots refereeing committee has refused to officiate matches this weekend and two leagues in Cardiff have suspensions in line with them.
Cardiff Aggregate League and Lazarou Cardiff Sunday League are right to postpone their games, the future Cardiff and District leagues have left the verdict on whether or not to play individual team games.
Regan, who was a sports teacher and soccer teacher before getting into refereeing, said he initially thought it would be a great fit.
But the “atrocious” behavior of the players against him put him on the brink of collapse.
“I was not surprised because the coaching staff had very bad behavior towards their own players, the referees and the rival,” he said.
“In one attack, one of his guys came up to me and said, ‘If you keep calling fouls, he [teammate] He’s going to slap you.’
“It just made me think ‘if someone hits me, what am I supposed to do?'”
Regan said that even though he loved refereeing, he didn’t want to feel like he was in a “fight or flight position.”
“I don’t regret leaving because it was the right decision, but I do regret feeling like I had to do it,” he said.
The referees’ strike will affect the matches of the three leagues on November 2 and 3.
Despite the domino effect on the games being played, many players have also supported the cause.
Evan Emer, a player for CPD Treganna, a team that plays in the Cardiff Combined league, said the players were “obviously frustrated” but added: “If the health and safety of the referees is in question and if they don’t feel safe, doing his job is hard to dispute.
“Frankly, I’m not surprised we’ve gotten to this point.”
Other players were not sure if the accident would generate an extra.
Cobi Plants of Cardiff Sparta, a Cardiff and district league team, said the trade had to “come from the top”.
Both Cardiff Aggregate and Lazarou Sunday League have suspended all matches this weekend to help referees, but some Cardiff and District League matches are still going ahead.
The Lazarou League declared that it “will support the stance of the Society of Referees”, and then the Cardiff Aggregate Football League (CCFL) declared that it “condoned neither violence nor abuse by referees”, but sought to offer all referees the decision on possibly later to participate in the move.
