Once you have requested a Personal Hearing, the Association will set a hearing date. This will be notified to you in writing. If the appeal involves a player under the age of 18 he/she must be accompanied by a suitable adult e.g. Parent. The Club must acknowledge the hearing date within 7 days on the date of issue of the hearing notification. If the player/club is unable to make the date offered, the player/club should contact the Association’s Office immediately as they may be able to rearrange the hearing in certain circumstances. Failing to respond to a hearing notification or failing to attend the hearing without prior notice may result in the hearing proceeding in the players/club absence.
Memorandum Of Procedures
A:
Subject to the Rules of The Association, a Commission may adopt such procedures at a Personal Hearing of a charge as it considers appropriate and expedient for the just determination of the charge brought before it.
This does not mean that a Commission can ignore the procedures but it allows the opportunity to take witnesses out of order, or release witnesses before all the evidence is presented. Any alteration must be agreed by all parties.
B:
A Commission shall not be bound by any enactment or Rule of Law relating to the admissibility of evidence in proceedings before a Court of Law.
Any evidence, such as written letters, video or audio recordings, or photographs can be presented to a Commission, who will attach what weight and significance to the evidence as they see fit. They will ask
why the author of a letter is not present to give verbal evidence and what relationship there is between the author and the participant.
1) The Commission, having assembled shall appoint one of its number as Chairman. The Commission may appoint a person to act as Secretary to the Commission whose duty it shall be to call the evidence to be submitted in support of the charge and generally assist the Commission in its determination of the charge.
When you enter the meeting room all of this will have been done, and you will be introduced to all Members of the Commission and their role in the Affiliated Association and/or a League. This is the only time when you given to object to the make-up of the Commission, if you consider that a Member could possibly be aware of your case prior to the Commission.
2) A participant may be represented by one individual (for instance, a player may be represented by a Club Official of a Club with which he is associated or by a representative of the Professional Footballers' Association, and a Referee may be represented by a representative of the Referees Association except when he is acting as a witness.) A participant appearing before a Commission may be legally represented only with the prior consent of the Commission. Request for consent must be made with at least 7 days notice. An individual acting as representative for a participant shall not be allowed to give evidence at a Commission.
You can represent yourself at a Hearing. You will have the opportunity to ask questions of the match officials present and have your own witnesses. If you feel that somebody else can do a better job you are entitled to use an alternative person to represent you. A Commission must be informed and permission requested if you wish to be legally represented. This permission is normally granted, but it may be that then the Commission may want to have a legal advisor present leading to higher costs awarded if you are found guilty of the charge. If you choose to have a representative presenting your case he cannot give evidence on your behalf, even if he was present at the game. He must make sure that all the evidence you wish to present to the Commission is brought out. You or your Representative will always have the last word by being invited to sum up before the Commission adjourns to decide if the charge is proved or not. At this stage you will not be able to introduce new evidence or anything not previously mentioned.
3) The person charged and any representative shall be admitted to the hearing. The
Commission shall satisfy itself that the person charged has had details of the charge.
Either a Member of, or the Secretary to the Commission will read the charge to confirm that you are aware of the allegations against you. If you are unsure about anything, this is the time to query it. If something unusual has happened in relation to the paper work, or the absence of witnesses listed to attend not being in attendance, an adjournment may be ordered.
4) Evidence (including witness evidence) in support of the Charge shall be received by the Commission. In cases concerning a report from a Match Official, that report shall be received in evidence first and shall be read out to the hearing. This report may have been submitted by email or through a web-site, in accordance with accepted FA procedures.
The Referee and Assistant Referee or other witnesses from the County will be called to give evidence (based on their reports issued to you with the charge). The reports can be read or taken as read if all parties have received them prior to the Hearing.
5) The person charged, or his representative shall have the right to ask questions relevant to the matters in issue of any witness in support of the charge.
The witnesses will be called, one at a time, and will remain in the room until all the evidence has been presented from both sides. This will be your only chance to question the witnesses. The Members of the Commission will almost certainly ask questions. The normal procedure is to let the defendant question first, followed by the Commission. You will need to ask questions relevant to your defence - only you know what your defence is. Possible questions to be asked are to get confirmation of things that happened or are related to the incident. Such as:-pitch conditions / weather / visibility / distance from incident / view of incident / timing of incident / position of other witnesses called.
6) After evidence in support of the charge has been received by the Commission, any
written statement made by the person charged shall be read out to the Commission. The person charged may then give evidence on his own behalf and in such event he may have questions asked of him by the Commission. The person charged or his representative may then submit evidence and call witnesses.
If you have given your version of the incident when replying to the charge this will be read out or taken as read if the Commission Members have received the papers prior to the day of the hearing. Otherwise you can give your evidence first or call your witnesses, in order of your choosing. Witnesses can give their version of the incident or answer questions asked by you. The Commission may also question your witnesses.
7) At any time the Chairman and through him, Members of the Commission, may ask questions of any witness or any representative. The Commission may draw such inferences as it considers appropriate from the failure of the person charged to give evidence or answer a question put to him.
Normally the person charged will give evidence on their own behalf. This is the best way of getting your point(s) over to the Commission and to convince them that your case is not proved on the balance of probability. Any doubt on the burden of proof ( 49% to 51%) must be given to the defendant when the Commission deliberates.
8) In the event of the evidence submitted in answer to the charge, disclosing a point which the Commission considers was not covered in the evidence , or not put to any witness in support of the charge, the Commission may recall any witness and ask questions of such witness. The person charged or his representative may also ask questions as point 5), above.
If something arises from your evidence not mentioned or brought out in questions to your previous
witnesses, the Commission can call them back for clarification. (This must be taken into account if any alterations to procedure are made in Section A)
9) The evidence having been completed to the satisfaction of the Commission, the person charged or his representative shall be entitled to make closing submissions based upon the evidence, this should not include reference to facts not disclosed in the evidence presented to the Commission.
If you have a number of witnesses, you may be asked if any subsequent ones will add anything to you case. You have every right to ask for all your witnesses to be heard but you may also feel that they may not offer the Commission any further relevant evidence. If you feel sure of this it is usually wiser not to call them. The ‘Summing Up’ is your chance to stress the points produced by your questions to the match officials and your witnesses, such as any conflicting evidence as to position, direction of play, visibility etc. Remember, when a case is brought for the use of ‘improper language’, the fact that all the county witnesses report the same words is not necessarily collusion but a correct record of the words actually used. Take your time to make your points to the Commission clearly and try to keep to the facts that have been brought out by the evidence.
10) At the conclusion of the closing submissions, all persons shall withdraw whilst the Commission considers the evidence and submissions presented to it and determines whether the Charge has been proved or not. After reaching its decision, the Commission shall recall the person charged and his representative. The Chairman shall announce whether the Charge has been found proved or not proved.
You will be asked to wait outside the Hearing room. Any witnesses, for both sides, will be allowed to leave (subject to being party to further cases). Only you and your representative will be called back into the meeting room. The Members will have been reviewing the evidence and deciding if the case is proved or not. (Guilty or not Guilty).
11) If the Charge is found not proved the hearing will be declared closed.
In which case you will be allowed to leave and the hearing is over. You will get refunded all monies paid relating to the case, but you will not be able to claim costs for yourself, your representative or witnesses attending the hearing (You have agreed to this by signing for a sanctioned Club in membership of an Affiliated Association playing under the Rules and Regulations of The Football Association.)
12) If the Charge is found proved details of the Misconduct record of the person charged shall be received by the Commission. The person charged, or his representative, may then
make a plea in mitigation.
Do not react to an adverse decision. It is understood by the Commission that you will be disappointed by such a decision, but unless you are determined to lodge an appeal against their decision through The Football Association (with the possibility of extra costs being awarded if you appeal is dismissed) this is the only chance to plead for a lesser sentence - if one has been offered - or for a lenient one. It may be difficult for you or your representative to make a plea in mitigation following a plea of not guilty to the charge. Use the evidence introduced to invite the Commission to decide that the offence was not, in substance or degree, as it appears in the paper work and use (if persuasive) your previous disciplinary record over the past five seasons.
This should have been made known to you and the Commission prior to the plea commencing. All relevant points should be made to the Commission such as: -number of years participating in the game / number of matches played in the season or career / never having been reported for a similar offence (if true) / other incidents that happened in the match that are relevant such as other player sent off in the same incident. These are all mitigating factors that you can ask the Commission to take into account.
It is advisable to be aware of the level of punishments recommended for your alleged offence(s).Your Club Secretary will help you with this through the Handbook that should have been received from your Affiliated Association.
13) At the conclusion of the plea in mitigation, the person charged and his representative shall again withdraw and the Commission shall determine what order(s), if any, shall be made under the provisions of Regulation 6.1 of the Regulations for Football Association Disciplinary Action.
You will be asked to leave the room again and the Commission Members will decide on the punishment, if any, the proved misconduct requires. Apart from being suspended and/or fined and/or warned, the Personal Hearing fee can be retained and costs can be awarded against you. You may get a refund if the costs awarded are lower than the Personal Hearing Fee.
14) The person charged and his representative shall then be re-admitted and informed of the decision of the Commission. This shall subsequently be confirmed in writing. (In cases of an Assault on a Match Referee, the findings of the commission will be sent in writing to the Match Official if requested previously.)
Do not react to the level of punishment as there is nothing you can do at this time. An improper reaction can lead to further charges being made against you. Later you have the right to appeal against any punishment you feel is excessive. This information will be contained in the decision letter from the County. If you do decide to appeal against the decision you have 14 days from the date on the decision letter, which will normally be sent to you via your Club Secretary. If you meet only once or twice a week, chase up the matter with your Club Secretary. The Appeal fee is £50 but, as stated before, costs can be high if you lose an appeal to The Football Association who deal with such during working hours, and occasionally with Commission Members coming from a distance.
Note that any penalty that becomes due while an appeal is resolved is not automatically set aside; you should make a request in your appeal correspondence to The F.A if you wish for a penalty to be set aside pending the appeal process.
15) As an alternative to the above, a Commission may where it considers it appropriate not announce its decision at the meeting but inform the person charged that such decision will be communicated to him in writing through his Club Secretary.
In some cases once the plea of mitigation is completed you will allowed to leave and the Commission Members will have the opportunity to take as much time as is required to come to an appropriate punishment. You will then receive the decision in writing, as above, via your Club secretary or home address if known.