FOOTBALLERS at grassroots level who assault a referee will be given an automatic five-year ban under new Football Association rules.
The ban, which will come into force for the upcoming season and also apply at youth levels, will be automatic.
There will also be at least an 84-day ban and £100 fine for any physical contact with a match official, report the Telegraph.
And even verbal threats will now result in a minimum ban of 56 days – or six matches – and a £50 penalty.
County FAs have been written to by the national governing body over the strict new laws.
The move comes on the back of many lower-level referees saying they felt “endangered and unsupported”.
One incident involved 18-year-old Ryan Hampson being barricaded into a changing room after a game.
He said he was also headbutted, spat at and punched.
The Manchester-based referee launched a campaign for better treatment which was supported by hundreds of other refs.
More than 2,000 referees went on strike back in March.
Hampson told the Telegraph: "The mandatory bans are a massive step forward and I am sure they will be welcomed by referees across the country.
"The situation for many referees had got desperate. The abuse was out of hand and, while not everyone agreed that striking was the right way forward, I am so happy that real change has followed the campaign."
Professional players have faced bans in the past, perhaps most famously Paolo Di Canio, who was suspended for 11 games in 1998 for pushing ref Paul Alcock while playing for Sheffield Wednesday against Arsenal.
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