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Children should be banned from playing football if their parents verbally harass referees, a Kent County Football Association (KCFA) executive has said.
Keith Masters, chief executive of the KCFA, said "radical action" was necessary to tackle abusive parents.
KCFA currently has no universal rule for dealing with the problem, but has allowed some leagues in Kent to introduce bans against children.
The Valley Express League in Kent has banned three children in three years.
Colin Boswell, chief executive of the Valley Express, said banning children whose parents were abusive towards referees had proved successful.
'Child protection'
"It's been a deterrent in our league. Parents are shouting things out at football games that if they shouted them out in the high street, they'd be arrested," he said.
"Although it's a small minority, it is growing and it needs to be nipped in the bud."
Colin Macey, a qualified referee and the secretary of Bocca Juniors FC in Ashford, said he thought abusive parents should be banned from attending games.
"I've been in situations where I've had parents come at me straight in my face and say they'll kick my head in.
"But I don't agree that kids should be banned because if you take the parents away, the kids are fine," he said.
Mr Masters said it was not necessarily possible to ban parents from games.
"You've got child protection issues, so you can't say we're going to let a child come and play but the parents can't come and watch them."
The Football Association (FA) began its Respect Campaign in March to promote respect for referees at all levels of the game.
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Keith Masters, chief executive of the KCFA, said "radical action" was necessary to tackle abusive parents.
KCFA currently has no universal rule for dealing with the problem, but has allowed some leagues in Kent to introduce bans against children.
The Valley Express League in Kent has banned three children in three years.
Colin Boswell, chief executive of the Valley Express, said banning children whose parents were abusive towards referees had proved successful.
'Child protection'
"It's been a deterrent in our league. Parents are shouting things out at football games that if they shouted them out in the high street, they'd be arrested," he said.
"Although it's a small minority, it is growing and it needs to be nipped in the bud."
Colin Macey, a qualified referee and the secretary of Bocca Juniors FC in Ashford, said he thought abusive parents should be banned from attending games.
"I've been in situations where I've had parents come at me straight in my face and say they'll kick my head in.
"But I don't agree that kids should be banned because if you take the parents away, the kids are fine," he said.
Mr Masters said it was not necessarily possible to ban parents from games.
"You've got child protection issues, so you can't say we're going to let a child come and play but the parents can't come and watch them."
The Football Association (FA) began its Respect Campaign in March to promote respect for referees at all levels of the game.
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