DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE PROCEDURES MANUAL       Dec16/ 04

A)General

i) Players, officials and spectators may only take part in or attend games on condition that they observe the By-laws, Rules and Regulations of the Lethbridge Soccer Association (LSA)/ Alberta Soccer Association (ASA).

ii)Every club is responsible for the actions of its players, officials and spectators;

iii)Every club and league is required to take all precautions necessary to prevent its players, officials and spectators from abusing, threatening or assaulting anyone present at games and especially the referee and assistants.

iv)Leagues in Membership shall ensure that their disciplinary rules, regulations and procedures are consistent with those of the LSA/ASA.

v)Failure to observe time lines established shall render any disciplinary action taken after the expiration of the time null and void.

vi)An accused person has the right to attend any hearing at his/her own expense.

vii)The report provided by the game official to the Association having jurisdiction shall be regarded as his/her affidavit to a discipline hearing committee. The presence of the game official is not required at any hearing unless the accused so wishes and then only on condition that the accused notify the Association of his/her wishes and pay in advance of such attendance all related expenses incurred by said official. Related expenses are specified annually by the board of directors. An association of league in Membership may require attendance of game officials in accordance with the rules, regulations and procedures of the association or league in membership.

viii)Any misconduct report from another Provincial association shall be regarded as an affidavit to the discipline hearing committee on the same basis as contained in A) vii) above.

B)Jurisdiction

i)Any person or organization reported for misconduct shall be dealt with by the LSA except as otherwise stipulated herein;

ii)All cases of misconduct involving alleged physical assault, attempted physical assault or threatening behavior toward a game official by any person shall be dealt with by discipline committee of the ASA.

iii)The ASA shall have direct jurisdiction only in the following circumstances:

     a)complaints or inquiries referred to it by another Provincial association

     b)misconduct by any person arising from participation in the select team program of the ASA

     c)misconduct at provincial or regional competitions of the ASA.

     d)misconduct by an association of league in membership or any of it's officers and officials

     e)misconduct arising from any international event (in or outside of Canada) where participation is given prior approval        by  the ASA.

   f)any other matter directly related to the ASA which the ASA, in its sole discretion, deems should be dealt with by it

iv)The ASA, at its sole discretion, may delegate its jurisdiction under B) iii) to an Association or league in membership

C)Misconduct

i)In addition to matters referred to in any other by-law, rule or regulation of the LSA, it shall be misconduct if any person or organization is proved at a hearing to the satisfaction of the discipline hearing committee of the LSA to have done, or permitted or assisted in doing or permitting any of the following:

     a)Violated the Laws of the game or the bylaws, rules and regulations of the ASA or LSA.

     b)Bet on any game other than on registered lotteries or pools

     c)Offered or attempted to offer, directly or indirectly, any consideration whatsoever to any association, club or league or to any player or official of any association, club or league or to any game officials with a view to influencing the result of any game or accepting any such consideration.

     d)Committed any act or made any statement either verbally or in writing, or been responsible for conduct, continuing misconduct or any other matter which, in the opinion of the LSA, is considered to be ungentlemanly, insulting or improper behavior or likely to bring the game into disrepute.

D)Hearing

Each Discipline Hearing held within the jurisdiction of the LSA and its members shall be conducted in accordance with the following:

i)A discipline hearing committee shall have no less than three (3) members, one (1) of whom shall act as chairman the chair shall be selected by the LSA president. The chairman will select at least 2 members to the committee. No Staff member of the LSA shall sit as a voting member of the hearing committee.

ii)One (1) of the committee shall act as recording secretary or a non-voting recording secretary (not one of the committee) shall be appointed to be present for the whole hearing. The recording secretary may be a staff member.

iii)An accused may be accompanied by legal counsel only with the permission of the LSA.

iv)The accused or his/her accredited representative shall be present or the hearing shall not proceed, unless otherwise stated by the accused in writing.

v)Failure to appear at a discipline hearing when due notice has been given, shall result in suspension of the accused until he/she requests, in writing, and attends another hearing. Notwithstanding D) iv) when notice has been given in writing.

vi)A request for a hearing under D) v) above shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $100, in the form of a certified cheque or money order.

vii)Postponement of the hearing may be granted by the committee on terms published in advance of the hearing

viii)Time lines and Notices
     a)Any person or organization accused of misconduct shall be given at least five (5) working days' notice of any scheduled hearing into the allegation. A copy of such notice shall also be sent to the organization if the person is one of their registered players or is their official representative

     b)Any person or organization shall be given at least five (5) working days notice of any scheduled hearing if their presence is required by the discipline hearing committee

     c)Requests for postponement of a hearing scheduled by the LSA must be received by the LSA at least three (3) working days prior to the date of the hearing, accompanied by a $100 fee in the form of a certified cheque or money order, which shall be refunded if the request is denied

     d)In cases where an accused stands suspended pending a hearing or for any adjourned hearing, the date for the hearing shall be set within ten (10) working days of the receipt of the misconduct report (or previous hearing) for a date no later than Fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of the misconduct report (or previous hearing)

     e)The result of any hearing shall be sent to the accused no later than five (5) working days after the hearing

ix)By mutual consent, in writing, of the accused and the discipline hearing committee, any terms in d) above may be waived

x)Procedure

With all required persons present, the hearing shall proceed as follows:

      a)The chairman shall read the report and state the charge

      b)The person(s) writing the report(s), if present, shall be given the opportunity to amplify or qualify the report(s)

      c)The accused shall be allowed to ask relevant questions of the author of the report(s) if he/she is present or make submissions of the report and testify on his/her own

     d)The accused and the person(s) writing the reports(s) shall have the opportunity to call witnesses to the incident

     e)The Chairman and any discipline hearing committee member may question the accused or nay witnesses

     f)The person(s) writing the report and the accused shall be allowed to make final summations before withdrawing

     g)The discipline hearing committee shall consider the report and any further evidence provided and shall either decide on the case or adjourn the hearing in accordance with viii) e) above

     h)The accused shall be notified, in writing, of the result of the hearing, in accordance with viii) f) above

E) Punishment

i)On misconduct being proved to its satisfaction, a discipline hearing committee shall have the power to order the offender:

     a)to be suspended from all specific soccer activities either permanently, indefinitely or for a stated period of time

     b)to be suspended for a specific number of scheduled games in a designated competition(s)

     c)to be fined and-or bonded (with or without suspension)

     d)to be censured

     e)to pay all expenses of the discipline hearing committee which may be incidental to consideration of the matter (with or without any other punishment)

ii)A discipline hearing committee shall set time lines for the payment of any costs, fines or bonds and may set further terms of punishment for non-compliance

iii)Notwithstanding E) i) above, in all cases of alleged physical assault of attempted physical assault of, of threatening toward towards a game official, the accused shall be suspended from all soccer activities until the case has been decided by the ASA.

iv)Notwithstanding E) i) above, in all cases where a person has been charged in Criminal Court as a result of soccer activities there shall be no Discipline hearing until the case has been concluded in Criminal Court and then the LSA may decided if further proceedings are warranted.

v)Suspensions shall be served for a continuous period or for consecutive games, except where there is a break in the competition, in which case the suspension may be continued accordingly

vi)Suspension guidelines for specific offences are set out in F) below. Any misconduct not outlined in F) below must be reviewed by the Discipline hearing committee

F) Action Specific

i)Cautions (Yellow Cards)

     a)The following suspension for Yellow Card accumulation during a season shall be automatic, governed by the membership league in conjunction with the LSA

     Three (3) cautions- one (1) game suspension

     Additional two (2) cautions- one (1) game suspension

     Additional one (1) caution- two (2) game suspension

     Additional one (1) caution- four (4) game suspension and appearance before discipline committee

     b)Two cautions cards received by a player in a single game will not be calculated in the above and will be dealt with as an ejection (Red Card). Single caution cards amassed will not be used in determining ejections. Red Cards received during a season must be considered by the discipline committee in issuing suspensions.

ii Ejection's (Red Card)
a)Ejection's EjectionsRed Cards) for actions against other players or team officials

1)Receives a Second Caution in the Same Match

2)Uses offensive, insulting, or abusive language and/ or gesture

     First offence- two (2) game suspension
     Second offence- four (4) game suspension

3)Violent Conduct

4)Serious Foul Play

     First offence- four (4) game suspension
     Second offence- nine (9) game suspension

5)Denies an obvious goal scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the players' toward by an offense punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick

     First offence-one (1) game suspension
     Second offence-two (2) game suspension

6)Denies an opponent a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball

     First offence- one (1) game suspension
     Second offence- two (2) game suspension

7)Spits at an opponent or any other person

     First offence- five (5) game suspension
     Second offence- appear before discipline committee

8)Boarding (indoor only)

      First offence- appear before discipline committee

b)Repeated Ejection's:

Unless otherwise stated in F) ii) all Third offence misconduct's in one calendar year must go directly to discipline committee for review.

c)In all cases of Suspensions, the accused shall be suspended from all soccer activities, including playing, coaching and officiating. The accused shall remain suspended from all soccer until such time as the suspension has been served in full.

d)The above punishment are minimum punishments only, the LSA reserves the right to call any player or team officials before the Discipline Committee for any reported misconducts.

G) Jurisdiction

i)The LSA by virtue of being affiliated with ASA shall have the power to deal with

Violations of the laws of the game, the rules regulations and bylaws of the LSA or misconduct by any of their clubs or associations, or by any of their players, officials or members.In all cases the party complained against shall have the right to appeal and to offer a full answer of defense to any charges against him/her when the case is heard

ii)All hearings involving offences listed other than those involving physical contact

with game officials or attempted physical contact with game officials, shall be performed by the LSA.

iii)All hearings involving physical contact with game officials or attempted physical contact with game officials shall be dealt with by the ASA.

iv)A discipline committee may, at its discretion, take action against any club whose players, officials or spectators have been found guilty of misconduct and/ or violence towards anyone present at a game and especially towards game officials.

J) Protest

Protests which do not relate to a referees on-field call must be handed in writing to the LSA office no more three (3) days after the game involved. You will be notified of discipline committee dicision in writing within five (5) days of hearing.

K) Appeals

a)Any club/team/individual participating in affiliated soccer has a right to appeal decision affection their status

b)The first avenue of appeal must follow the appeal process within the LSA

c)The next avenue of appeal is to the ASA Standing Committee or Discipline and Appeals who shall decide whether leave to appeal shall be granted

d)Appeals of decisions made by a member shall be submitted, in writing to the LSA along with a cheque or money order for one hundred and fifty dollars ($150) payable to the Lethbridge Soccer Association, which is the appeal fee. The cheque must be a certified cheque or money order.

e)The letter of appeal and accompanying appeal fee must be post-marked no more than five (5) days from the receipt, in writing, of the decision being appealed.

f)Any appeal shall normally be heard within two (2) weeks of its receipt by the LSA

g)Suspensions will remain in effect until the decision of the LSA appeal hearing is released.