• Any misconduct charge(s) raised which relate to an abandoned fixture, must be heard by a Disciplinary Commission within 42 days of the County FA first being notified.

• A misconduct charge must be heard no later than 90 days after the first report of misconduct has been received by the County FA (excluding abandoned fixture charges and charges that include an ISO – Interim Suspension Order).

• A Disciplinary Commission can add additional suspension days to a sanction to account for the “close season”. For example, if a participant receives a 30-day ban on 1^st June the commission may add an extra 30 days to the suspension as typically no fixtures will take place in the month of June.

• From the 23/24 season, the FA have introduced point deductions for teams if their players or coaches commit repeated offences of serious misconduct, including: acts of discrimination and assault or attempted assault, physical contact or attempted physical contact against a match official. Point deductions will apply to clubs at Step 7 and below of the men’s game, and clubs across Tier 3 and below in the women’s pyramid. Deductions will range from three to 12 points depending on the number of breaches within 12 months of the team’s first offence and severity of the case(s). Link to further information - https://www.calameo.com/read/00123023543ea298d2493

Understanding Misconduct Charges

It is important for the charged participant(s) to read and understand the charge letter and charge evidence, before responding to a misconduct charge. Please see below a breakdown of an example charge letter: 

•  A misconduct letter is addressed to the listed Club Secretary
• The date at the top right is the date of notification of the charge
• The reply due date is when a response is needed by

• The next part of letter outlines the FA Rule that has allegedly been breached by the participant i.e. FA Rule E3

•  The next part of the letter explains the specific incident that the charge relates to. 
• The charge evidence document is uploaded to Whole Game System, which is the evidence used by the County FA to support raising the charge. This will include witness statements from anyone that witnessed the incident.

•  The next part of the letter explains the sanction range that the disciplinary panel will refer to if the charge is found proven

If you/your player gets a misconduct charge - what happens

If you/your players are charged with misconduct, it is you club secretary's responsibility to notify you of the charge that has been raised. The Secretary should supply you with a copy of the charge letter and charge evidence. It is important that you carefully read these documents before responding to the charge:

As the charged participant, you have 4 options to choose from to respond to the charge:

1. Accept the Charge via a correspondence hearing

2. Deny the Charge via a correspondence hearing 

3. Accept the charge and offer a verbal plea for leniency 

4. Deny the charge and request a personal hearing 

Once you have responded an independent disciplinary commission will be appointed to discuss the case and decide the outcome of the charge. If the charge is found Not Proven the case will be removed from your record. If the charge is found Proven, the commission will decide on the sanctions to be imposed. This could be a fine and/or a match based/day based suspension from all Football activities. Any sanctions that is imposed is subject to the FA Appeals procedure.

If you/your player gets booked - what happens

If you/your player receives a yellow or red card during a game, the referee will take note of you/your players name and the offence that has been committed e.g a foul tackle. After the game, the referee will report this to the County FA though the Whole Game System. Your Club secretary will be able to see this on your Clubs Whole Game System as soon as it has been processed by the County FA. There is a cost associated with yellow and red cards, which will need to be paid by your club. However, you/your player receives a red card, you will automatically receive a match based suspension, which will commence seven days after the card has been received. It is yours and your clubs responsibility to ensure that players do not play for the club whilst being suspended.

If you or your club have any questions surrounding yellow or red cards, please direct them to discipline@leicestershirefa.com

A claim for wrongful dismissal is lodged by a club for on-field offences that result in a straight sending of. Cases where a player is sent off for receiving two cautions in the same match or dismissed for offensive, insulting, or abusive language/behaviour cannot be appealed against. All other sending off offences can be appealed against.

A Club wishing to lodge a claim must notify the County FA (in writing) of its intention to do so, by 5PM on the second business day following the game in which the dismissal occurred. For example, if the red card was received on Saturday, the claim must be lodged by 5PM on the following Tuesday.

For Clubs a Step 5-7 the appeal fee is £50, for clubs outside of the National League System the fee is £30.

Please note: regardless of when the paperwork is received by your club, the intention to appeal must be received within two working days of the game. Any claim that is lodged outside of the specified time frame will not be considered for appeal.

Football Debt Recovery

If a participant has left owing money to a Club or League, the County FA may be able to assist in the recovery of the debt. The County FA can assist in retrieving debt relating to disciplinary fees, match fees, playing expenses and league costs. The County FA cannot retrieve debt relating to kit/equipment and club trips.

A Club must evidence that they have made reasonable efforts to retrieve the debt from the participant and the incurred debt must be within the previous 112 days. The Creditor (usually the club) must pay the County FA an admin fee of £25 for the claim to be processed. This is added onto the total debt being claimed and will be refunded when the monies owed are received by the participant.

 Appealing a League Decision

Clubs have the right to appeal against a League’s decision to the relevant sanctioning authority (Leicestershire & Rutland County FA).

Within 14 days of receiving written notification of the decision by the Management Committee and/or Competition, the club must provide their notice of appeal with any required fee (outlined in SCOR/Y) to Leicestershire & Rutland County FA. The grounds of appeal shall be in accordance with FA Rules.

The County FA shall convene an Appeal Board to adjudicate on the case.

Any claim that is lodged outside of the specified time frame will not be considered for appeal.