AFL Canberra has welcomed calls from the league's top administrators to crack down on disrespect towards officials "at all levels", after concerns were raised about the impact on umpire recruitment.
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The regional body hopes prioritising the eradication of abuse by players, coaches and other staff will result in more umpires signing up and become "a catalyst" for a culture shift in the treatment of officials.
"It's a brilliant move because it's one law that we can subtly change at the elite level that will have a huge impact at community level," ACT and regional NSW umpire coordinator Troy Mavroudis said.
"You see some players how they remonstrate with umpires and it isn't a particularly a good look.
"It's good that they can identify that and say we need to change that behaviour because there's millions of people watching this and to many these are role models.
"A lot of those watching are parents or players that will go out on a Saturday and Sunday and be participating in a game at community level. I'm confident that it will be a catalyst and set a bit of a precedent."
Last year GWS Giants star Toby Greene copped a six-game suspension after an incident with umpire Matt Stevic, but the AFL cited "a number of instances" that drew concern in its 2021 season review.
"The league reminds everyone within the game that they have a responsibility to demonstrate respect and sportsmanship towards each other at all times," AFL executive general manager Andrew Dillon said this week.
"We identified a number of instances where the AFL community fell short of those standards when it came to demonstrating respect towards umpires."
The AFL also claimed the game was alarmingly short of 6000 umpires at the community level, exposing just how desperate the league was to address the problem.
"We need umpires to keep up with the pace the game is growing," Mavroudis said.
"The women's game in Riverina, for example, that competition has doubled in a year. There's all these extra games going on, we just don't have the same growth with umpires.
"Any steps at the elite levels that can elicit a positive influence on recruitment and retention of umpires will always be welcomed.
"If we can stamp out some of the abuse and disrespect by paying a free kick or 50-metre penalty through effective match management, it might just change some attitudes and behaviours."
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