European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 7, Number 4 (2009) 102 Malaysian Rugby Referees Perception on the Athletes, Coaches, and Spectators Misconduct: A Case Study Mohamad Nizam Nazarudin Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia E-mail: mnizam@ums.edu.my Tel: +60192705970 Mohd Sofian Omar-Fauzee Universiti Putra Malaysia E-mail: dromarfauzee@yahoo.com Tel: +60389464275 Anuar Din Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia E-mail: Anuardin@ums.edu.my Tel: +60192705970 Abstract This study was to investigate Malaysian Rugby Referee perceptions of athlete, coach and spectator misconduct in the sports of rugby. Five (5) research question specifically addressed. The survey instrument (Sports Officials Survey, Hughes, 2001) was distributed to all rugby referees’ in attendance at Malaysian Society of Rugby Union Referee (MSRUR) Annual General Meeting. A total of 35 officials (100.% male) completed usable questionnaires. This represented a response rate of 87.5% of the population (n=40). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and logistic regression. The results of the study indicate that verbal misconduct by coaches and spectators in rugby are at least a problem as perceived by Malaysian Rugby Union Referee. Many of the referees participating in this study claimed to have experienced verbal and/or physical misconduct after or away from the actual competition site. The fact that no significant relationship was found between officials' ratings of verbal and physical misconduct and their reported likelihood to quit referee warrants further investigation. Introduction In a survey conducted earlier in Malaysia, 90% of state level rugby referee coordinator who responded, reported that there is a shortage of officials in their state. Two main reasons identified were: 1) the number of active rugby referee has declined, 2) the number of scheduled games has increased. This is placing a tremendous burden on associations to provide competent referee for competition. One of the primary reasons reported for why referee are choosing not to officiate is the verbal and occasional physical abuse that they are subjected to before, during and/or after officiating a game. Rainey and Hardy (1999) mailed surveys to 1175 Rugby Union referees from Wales, Scotland, and England and received responses from 682. The average age of respondents was 41 years; their average refereeing experience was 8.5 years. Thirty-eight referees (5.6%) reported they had been assaulted while officiating. There were no significant differences among percentages of referees reporting assaults from Wales (8%), Scotland (5.7%), and England (4.6%). Forty-two percent of the assaults were minor, such as pushing or grabbing, but 47% were more serious, such as punching or