'Scissors, paper, rock': Bizarre referee suspension causes outrage

A football referee has sensationally been suspended for forgetting to bring his coin to a Women’s Super League match last month.

Instead, he opted for a game of ‘scissors, paper, rock’ to determine who would kick-off in the match between Manchester City and Reading.

But the decision to suspend David McNamara for three weeks by the Football Association has been met with a harsh backlash, fuming over the ‘draconian’ penalty.

“Who at the Football Association took the decision to suspend a young referee who made the mistake of forgetting his coin?” asked former referees’ chief Keith Hackett on Twitter.

“Three-week suspension is draconian.

“A player who gets a three-match ban can be back playing in 7-10 days.”

A coin toss to decide who kicks off is a requirement under the Laws of the Game but the seemingly harsh penalty has caused a massive stir.

Well-known International rugby referee Nigel Owens even took to Twitter to vent his frustrations:

“A bit of common sense is needed surely. If both captains were happy to do it then why not,” he tweeted.

“I did it with Blues v Ospreys and NZ v Barbarians on the request of the captain’s.

“I obliged as a bit of fun is whats needed sometimes. Life is to short smile & have fun.”

Despite the backlash, FA women’s refereeing manager Joanna Stimpson said he should have been “more prepared”.

“He obviously thought it was the right thing to do, he probably walked away, or the second afterwards, thought it wasn’t the right thing to do,” she said.

“It’s not defendable. He should have been more prepared, he should have had a coin but he didn’t. It was disappointing, it’s not appropriate, it’s very unprofessional.”

The referee in question was initially charged for “not acting in the best interest of the game”, and accepted the suspension.

McNamara, who has the right to appeal against the FA suspension will be able to return to duty from December 17.

with AAP.