| Type of Incident: | Conducta Deportiva — Puede ser usado cuando un equipo, jugador, técnico o espectador está involucrado. |
| Date of Incident: | 2025-03-23 |
| Time of Incident: | 14:00:00 |
| Location of Incident: | Benicia Community Park |
| Home Team: | Benicia Soccer Benicia Arsenal 2011 Girls |
| Visiting Team: | 2011G Orange |
| Age Group and Gender: | U14G |
| Team Affiliation of Individual Committing Incident: | Benicia Soccer Benicia Arsenal 2011 Girls |
| Incident Summary: | A fight broke out between a player from each team. As the fight continued, an adult spectator from Eastshore Alliance entered the field and removed one of the combatants from the Benicia opponent. A Benicia spectator then entered the field and removed the Eastshore Alliance spectator from the Benicia player. |
| Comments: | The coaches of each team, Simba Aberdeen of Eastshore Alliance, and Alisa Payne of Benicia, are each suspended 2 games for failing to control their team's spectators. The PAD Committee recommends to the Executive Committee of the NorCal Premier Board of Directors that each team be docked 6 points or removed from the spring league.
4/10/25 Update:
The NorCal EC has now reviewed the recommendations of the NorCal PAD Committee, and the subsequent appeal from Eastshore Alliance. It is the stance of NorCal that the Club is ultimately responsible for the behavior of their members, and at a game, the Coach (as the representative of the Club) is responsible for the behavior of the spectators.
The decision of the NorCal EC is as follows:
-The suspensions assigned to the Coaches and the Benicia Player remains
-NorCal EC has decided against imposing the suggested team sanctions of either removal from Spring League or a 6-point deduction, due to the one-off nature of this incident and the fact that this incident did not escalate to a mass confrontation of either players or spectators.
-Spectators of both teams (1 parent per player on each team roster) are required to complete the ‘Return to Good Standing Course’ from The Sideline Project, before spectators will be permitted to attend either teams’ games in NorCal competitions again. All certificates should be sent the NorCal PAD Committee as evidence of parents completing the course.
-The temporary suspension of both teams is lifted with immediate effect, and the games that have been missed during this period should be rescheduled.
As per the FIFA Laws of the Game, "referees should apply the Laws within the ‘spirit’ of the game to help produce fair and safe matches”.
It is the opinion of the NorCal EC that the referee failed to produce a safe match, leading to a situation where a parent felt the need to enter the field of play, which has the potential to severely escalate the situation to a dangerous level.
As such, NorCal requires that Benicia Arsenal consults with the NorCal State Referee Coordinator to implement an action plan in order to improve this area prior to the start of the 2025/26 season. Failure to make progress may impact Benicia Arsenal’s ability to host home games in the future. |
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