An Arsenal academy coach who reduced a teenage girl refereeing an under-9s match to tears after calling her a “little prick” has been fined and banned for three matches by the FA. The behaviour has been described as “abhorrent” by a disciplinary panel, which found Alex Nichols screamed and shouted at the girl, described in its findings as a “child referee” and “a female minor” — referees have to be 14 before they can take charge of a junior match. Arsenal said Nichols had been warned about his future conductAfter the match between Arsenal and Reading, involving eight and nine-year-old boys, the referee declined to shake Nichols’ hand. He responded by muttering “how classy, little prick”, the findings state. An initial hearing only found Nichols guilty of…

Source: The Times June 13, 2019 11:03 UTC