Anthony Taylor: My family don’t come to matches because of abuse
Taylor isn’t on social media because he doesn’t want to “waste time” reading negative comments or opinions.
“If you are continually told that you are not very good, whether by the media, by experts or even by former managers, then people’s mental health could suffer,” he says.
“The culture of football in general is: ‘we have to win this game at all costs’.
“The efforts that people are making after the game with a lot of things to spread false narratives, to spread malicious conspiracy theories…it creates an extremely negative environment for people to operate in.”
Asked if it is right for top referees to expect a high level of control given what may be at stake on the field, Taylor replied: “I would not object to such control.”
But he adds: “I’m not saying it’s not okay to expect scrutiny, but everyone who watches football always sees a game through the eyes of their team. And the result of a football match and the culmination of a football season is multi-faceted.
“It does not depend on an official match decision. It does not depend on a player missing a penalty in a match. It does not depend on a coach making a tactical error during a match. Playing more than 38 matches…
“So you’re saying that the argument that one decision cost someone their entire season… is simply not true because there will be many other incidents during a game or during this season where game results have been affected.
“What I’m saying is that there can be some scrutiny and criticism. But it’s very rarely balanced. Nobody really talks about the positive side of things very often either, these days.”
Referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has a team of psychologists responsible for the mental wellbeing of match officials and works with mental health charity Mind.
