A British soccer referee has been suspended for a “moment of madness” after he asked two team captains to play rock, paper, scissors to decide a kickoff.
David McNamara asked the two sportswomen to take part in the playground game ahead of a Women’s Super League (WSL) match in October because he found himself without a coin to flip.
The incident, which fell afoul of the sport’s regulatory body, the Football Association (FA), occurred on October 26 at Manchester City’s home game against Reading. Manchester City captain Steph Houghton found herself in the bizarre situation alongside visiting captain Kirsty Pearce.
Joanna Stimpson, the women’s refereeing manager for the FA, told The Times newspaper that that the mistake was a “moment of madness.”
She said: “The referee forgot his coin and in that moment, in a TV game, he was really pushed for time.
“He should have been more prepared, he should have had a coin. It was disappointing, it’s not appropriate, it’s very unprofessional.”
A spokesperson for the FA told CNN that McNamara would be suspended for 21 days, from November 26 to December 17, after accepting a charge of “not acting in the best interests of the game.”
Efforts to reach McNamara for comment were not immediately successful.