In recent seasons, rugby referees have regularly been caught in turmoil, victims of serious threats and cyberharassment from supporters unhappy with their decisions. A drift which took a further step during the last World Cup, with the serious threats received by New Zealander Ben O’Keeffe, who officiated during the quarter-final lost by France against South Africa (28-29), or the Englishman Wayne Barnes, who was on the whistle for the final won by the Springboks against the All Blacks. Which pushed the latter, who had more than 100 matches under his belt, to retire…
To deal with this increasingly worrying trend in rugby, the EPCR, the body which organizes the Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup, has decided to take the lead and join forces with the company Signify Group, leader leader in the field of social media threat research and analysis. Via the use of its service called “Threat Matrix” – which operates in 35 different languages and uses dedicated artificial intelligence – this company will immediately notify the EPCR “of any targeted threats or inappropriate approaches identified”. The identity of the harassers will be revealed “in order to allow action by the EPCR or prosecution by the judicial authorities”, indicates the body, which adds the social network platforms will be warned “so that they can act”.
Tony Spreadbury, head of refereeing at the EPCR, acknowledges: “We are seeing a very alarming rise in harassment and threats, both online and in real life, targeting match officials in the rugby. We want to send the message that not only is this unacceptable, but we are going to monitor this.” For his part, Jonathan Hirshler, Managing Director of Signify Group, adds that he is “convinced that our approach will represent real and concrete benefits for match officials, who often have to face the most vile harassment and threats in line”.
Dominic McKay, Chairman of the EPCR, said in a statement: “The welfare of match officials is a priority and it is for this reason that the EPCR has taken the decision to establish clear levels of protection. We saw the value of this approach during the 2023 Rugby World Cup and it is important to put similar proactive protection measures in place for this season alongside our partners.” The Champions Cup begins this weekend with an explosive La Rochelle-Leinster, a remake of the last two finals of the competition won by the Maritimes.
