Time to blow the whistle on abuse of football referees | Referees

Isn’t it time to blow the whistle, stop the negative criticism of referees’ decisions and focus on the game being played (‘Let’s get this hatred out of football’: Mikel Arteta on threats against referee, 28 January)? Commentators, pundits, managers and coaches spend too much time talking about what they consider to be wrong decisions instead of giving a critique of the game itself. This fuels anger and frustration among some supporters, and leaves referees out on a limb with little or no support, suffering vile social media abuse.
Michael Peter Wood
Broadhempston, Devon

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta is to be applauded for urging football to kick hatred out of the game. Will he now ask his club’s supporters to abandon their routine “Stand up, if you hate Tottenham” chant? Please note: I write as an Arsenal supporter who finds this tradition embarrassingly boorish. The truly modern Gooner is better than this.
David Head
Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Simply yellow-card any act of aggression towards referees by playing and non-playing staff, and stop using decisions as talking points after the game. Within a season the culture will start to change.
Jody Dawson
Birmingham

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