Rugby league referee subjected to homophobic abuse says he never thought about quitting

Video report by Sport Correspondent David Chisnall

One of the leading rugby league referees, who was subjected to a litany of vile homophobic abuse, has praised the support he's received from the rugby community.

Marcus Griffiths from Widnes, was the target of aggressive online abuse last season.

But the official, who is openly gay, says the outpouring of support from the rugby league community means he's never considered walking away from the sport.

Following a game back in August 2023, Marcus Griffiths was targeted with homophobic abuse, which he shared on his Instagram page.

The messages, told him to “die” and used aggressive homophobic language.

But as the new Super League season prepares to kick off, Marcus Griffiths has been explaining how the strong bond between his fellow referee officials, and the outpouring of love and support from the rugby league community, meant he never felt like quitting.

"That first week was one of the weirdest games I'll ever officiate because running around the pitch and getting applauded during your warm up doesn't happen.

"It doesn't happen at all. To get abuse and then applauded it was different within the space of a week."

As a referee he accepts it's a challenging job that often comes with criticism, but the homophobic abuse he received went too far.

"We all experience some sort of criticism and understandably we will get things wrong and we're not against criticism.

"However there are levels that aren't to be crossed and not only were they homophobic in nature, they threatened to run my mum off the road.

"For me that was more the personal side of it because bringing somebody's family into it is one step too far."

Preparing for the new season alongside his fellow referees, Marcus says it's the close bond between them that meant he's never felt like walking away from the sport.

He now wants to inspire others from the LGBTQ+ community.

"If you can see it you can be it - that was my belief from when I did it, unintentionally not understanding why I did it just out of frustration, anger.

"All the negativity, I created a positivity out of it because people can see you can be an openly gay male and be involved in professional sport."

But Marcus knows this season will be tough.

Big rule changes coming into rugby league this year mean big headaches for the officials as everyone adjusts to the new laws.

"The job doesn't become harder the job remains the same, however the perception of us doing the job well becomes harder because there are such dramatic changes that the game might not the same as what it did.

"So there will be an additional amount of pressure this year coming.

"Expectedly it might get tougher for a few of us in that time because people won't agree with what we're giving because the game is changing."

While there are changes coming on the pitch Marcus hopes that off it, rugby league doesn't change as a sport that's inclusive to all.

Want more on the issues affecting the North? Our podcast, From the North answers the questions that matter to our region.