The Toxicity of the Match Officials Department

This morning, it was confirmed by the RFL that Head of Match Officials since 2016, Steve Ganson, has been suspended pending investigation.

Under Ganson's tenure, James Child, Ian Smith, Matt Thomason, George Stokes, Sam Ansell, Phil Bentham, Richard Silverwood, Joe Cobb, Chris Campbell, Steve Presley and Mike Burnett have all left the RFL.

Meanwhile, Robert Hicks has stepped down as a full-time referee, moving to a compliance role, Jack Smith stepped down as a full-time referee before returning and Ben Thaler was suspended and later reinstated in mysterious circumstances.

Such a high turnover of staff in a department with relatively few staff should raise cause for concern. Especially when many departing staff have commented on their departures in such damning terms. Here are what some have said:

James Child

The most recently departed match official, James Child, has spoken to Forty-20 Magazine.

"What I've always found difficult about refereeing are not the external pressures, that is a given. Start aged 11, progress through the ranks and you kind of get used to that even though there have been incidents I've been involved in when I've been abused.

The internal pressure and criticism, all the threats, swearing and shouting however, that grows tiresome and sport - including officiating - relies heavily on confidence. If you've got 26 players and 10,000 people in a stadium questioning your decisions, you've got to have confidence in what you are doing. If you feel as though that's being eroded internally as well, you do start wondering who has got your back.

For me, the whole structure is in some ways quite wrong. At the end of the 2021 season, I arranged to go and visit the RFU referees at Twickenham off my own bat. I spent two days with them, which was interesting and enlightening.

It was a relaxed yet professional environment, the boss was really jovial, they were critical of one another in a constructive way. I gave them a flavour of what our group reviews would be like and they were taken aback. They were not used to the combative in-your-face criticism that operates in league and it showed me how it could be run.

Richard Silverwood

Richard Silverwood posted the following tweet as news of Ganson's suspension broke, describing a culture of fear.

Only 8 years too late. This bloke has made many officials walk away from something they love. A department run by fear. Whilst a referee he was the king of banter and mischief. Then when boss he would have people suspended for things he did himself.https://t.co/UDsA2Znbmi

— Richard Silverwood (@SilversRef) January 15, 2023

Ian Smith

Fellow former official Ian Smith also described a humiliating experience when he left the RFL in 2016.

7 yrs ago today I went into a pre season meeting with all the match officials to be shown via a ppt slide that I was no longer needed or wanted by the RFL. Gutted, devastated, humiliated and upset. From rock bottom, the only way is up..

— Ian Smith (@Iansmith2468) January 3, 2023

Joe Cobb

Joe Cobb left the RFL in 2017. Whilst Cobb has not publicly commented on his departure, Love Rugby League reported allegations that he was bullied by an unnamed staff member at the RFL.

George Stokes

George Stokes gave an interview to League Weekly in which he described a culture of homophobia:

"It's the least professional organisation in the world. I witnessed homophobic abuse being thrown about by a very senior member of the match officials department to another member of staff. This is supposed to be a professional organisation, yet here we are in a pub while someone gets absolutely torn into about being gay - delving into his personal life and making a mockery of it because he happened to be within another man.

He sat there and took in for about half an hour. I reported this to Ralph Rimmer when I left but nothing happened about it."

In response, Ralph Rimmer said:

"Whilst it might be true to say that the department has had some issues in previous years, we have undergone what at times has been difficult journey. I believe the changes we have made are beginning to bear fruit."

Rimmer, characteristically, failed to specify what those 'issues' were and what changes were made. In any event, many departures followed, casting doubt on Rimmer's belief that the change had started to bear fruit.

Matt Thomason

Meanwhile, Matt Thomason spoke of his departure in the same interview as above, citing a threatened 50% pay cut and internal politics:

"Would Ralph Rimmer or anyone else at the RFL take a 50% pay cut to do the same job? No, they wouldn't. It was a matter of principle for me. I've been mistreated and mismanaged. It's such a shame because I loved doing what I was doing but the politics made it impossible."

TRYLINE COMMENT

The extent and frequency of departures from the RFL under Ganson's reign should have rung alarm bells sooner.

There have been repeated and separate allegations of discriminatory behaviour, bullying and incompetence which, to date, have not been taken seriously by the RFL. Instead, they have been buried.

These allegations are a stain on the RFL's reputation and in keeping with former Chief Executive Ralph Rimmer, who himself made discriminatory comments about the Fiji national team this autumn.

And turning to on field matters, the mass departures means that our referees have less experience before being thrown into the biggest matches, which means standards will drop.

I doubt it is a coincidence that these allegations are now being investigated less than one month after Ralph Rimmer's departure. The only positive is that new, interim CEO, Tony Sutton, appears to be willing to address the toxic culture within the Match Officials department head on, unlike his predecessor.