ENGLAND goalkeeper David James admitted players have a responsibility to act as proper role models to try to help shape the next generation.
The Football Association recently launched a new initiative called "Respect" aimed at improving the conduct towards match officials, which is being piloted at the grassroots level.
New FA chairman Lord Triesman is set to push forward with the con
cept, which he hopes will eventually be adopted by the professional game.
However, no sooner, though, had the scheme been launched, then there were two high-profile examples of questionable behaviour from Premier League stars.
Chelsea defender Ashley Cole showed disdain towards the referee when being cautioned by Mike Riley after his studs- up challenge on Alan Hutton against Tottenham, and Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano was sent off after arguing with match official Steve Bennett at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Portsmouth keeper James, 37, in line to add to his 36 caps during the friendly against France in Paris, accepts players have to do what they can to ensure youngsters get the right message from their sporting idols.
"It is very important, but it is also very complex," said James, pictured right. "We have situations where we as internationals, in the Premier League or any professional footballer in the game who appears on TV – we are all role models.
"But at the same time you are dealing with the influence that has on kids who should also be using their parents as role models.
"Everything I do cannot be right for everyone else. The FA has looked to challenges to authority, which they are now with the Respect campaign. It starts with the players initially because they are on TV, and then you have to go grassroots.
"I found that going through a well structured youth team with an apprenticeship, if you have a strong coach or manager there who will demand respect among your peers and to officials, then that should hold you in good stead for when you become a professional.
"But really for kids at home, the parents should be the role model."
Meanwhile, Mascherano insists he still has no idea why he was sent off during Liverpool's 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford.
While the possibility persists that the Argentinean could yet have to serve more than the mandatory one-match ban – because he failed to leave the pitch immediately after being red-carded – Mascherano remains non-plussed over the initial reason for Sunday's dismissal.
Referee Bennett had already booked him for a foul when Mascherano sought to make his feelings known to the official after Fernando Torres had also been given a yellow card.
It was then the referee gave the midfielder his second booking for dissent.
But Mascherano claimed: "I do not know why I was sent off. I asked the referee what was happening.
"I did not swear, I was not aggressive and I did not confront him. All I did was ask him what was happening, nothing else."
Mascherano, who subsequently lost his cool as he made his way off the field, told the Liverpool Echo: "When he showed me the second yellow card and sent me off I could not believe it.
"I am sorry to my team-mates because that meant we went down to ten men – and that made things even more difficult for us."
The full article contains 568 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
