The purpose of the new traffic light system is to enable the committee to take strong and swift action to remove clubs who refuse to conform to Corinthian standards from the league.
1: The things we want to eliminate from Corinthians games:
Violent conduct
Verbal abuse
Undermining of match officials through aggression or constant criticism
Reckless or overly aggressive tackling
Cynical and persistent foul play
Use of under-age players without prior agreement
The ‘win by any means necessary’ mentality
2: The things we are promoting:
Good competitive football
Enjoyment of the game
Playing by the rules and adhering to the spirit
A sense of camaraderie regardless of the result
A helpful and co-operative attitude between clubs
A commitment to upholding the spirit of the league
A game which falls below the green standard will be one which features some aspect of list 1. It is up to individual managers to interpret whether an amber or a red offence against the spirit of the league has been committed. The attitude of the opposition management on the day will be a big factor in this. Everyone knows that individuals can get out of hand and let their teams down from time to time. If the management are aware of this and deal with in the moment, then a red report is probably not appropriate. If they are dismissive and defensive about such an individual then this would indicate a red report.
Amber reports will be held on file in case of future misconduct, but not investigated. Red reports will be investigated and if upheld either a final warning will be issued or there will be immediate expulsion.
Examples of serious incidents against the spirit of the league, to be reported to the committee as a red offence:
- Violent conduct: If a player physically assaults an opponent or official during or after the game, or aggressively threatens to do so, this should automatically result in a red report unless the management of the opponent takes strong action against the aggressor at the time (ie taking the player off, having stern words, requiring him to apologise at the end of the game for example)
- Verbal abuse: Persistent and aggressive verbal abuse, especially if it is of a racist, homophobic or sexist nature cannot be tolerated and should result in a red report. If an individual is responsible and the opposition management deal with it in a satisfactory way then the report may become amber.
- Failure to pay half the match costs as agreed should automatically result in a red report.
- Blatant use of younger players without prior agreement, to the point where they effectively decide the outcome of the game.
- Continual and aggressive abuse/criticism of match officials could result in a red report if not dealt with by the management of the offending side.
Example of less serious incidents against the spirit of the league:
- Persistent and cynical foul play.
- Failure to apologise after a foul has been committed.
- Generally lording it over a weaker opponent.
- Constant criticism of officials’ decisions.
- Failure to notify the opponent beforehand that younger players are being used, although this did not really affect the outcome of the game.
- A generally unpleasant, unfriendly or aggressive attitude in the opponent.
The good stuff:
Many teams in the league go above and beyond the basic level of Corinthian behavior. The examples below have all been recorded in games over the years. If you come across exceptional Corinthian spirit it is great to highlight this in match reports on the website.
Examples of the spirit in action:
- The ref wrongly awards a decision to the opponent. The opponent tells the ref there has been a mistake and the decision is overturned.
- A player inadvertently commits a foul. He helps the opponent up and apologises.
- A player is becoming angry and overly aggressive during the game. Of his own volition, the manager substitutes him and tells him he cannot go back on until he has calmed down.
- A team arrives for the game with only ten players. The other team has twelve, so they give one of their players to the other side so make the teams even.
- A team is wrongly awarded a penalty by the ref. The taker deliberately misses the kick in order to correct the mistake.
- A player is down injured when a goal is scored. The team that scored allows the opponent to score unopposed in order to right the injustice.
- A team are winning easily at half time in a mismatched game. They put their prolific striker in goal for the second half to even things out.
Amber/Red Report Form
If you believe your match was not played to our “Green Light” standards, you must complete the form below and submit a brief report citing reasons why you feel the opponents warranted a Red/Amber light.
The content of this report will NOT be shown publicly on the website and is purely for the committee to look at, in order to decide what, if any, action to take.
