We want everyone to be able to access our website and participate in social networking opportunities, so we are clarifying the expectations around responsible use which are aligned with the FA guidelines. For many people these guidelines will be common sense and you will be complying with them already.

We ask you as players, parents and carers to be aware of the following:-

As a member of the Club you are responsible for and need to abide by the FA Rules and Regulations regarding comments you place online about the League, Club, players, managers or match officials.

It is against Club and FA rules to post comments that are or maybe conceived as offensive, insulting, abusive, threatening, racist, and discriminatory or any other reference that may cause offence or harm to others.

Any such comment made on Club or League websites and/or social networking sites regarding officials may result in disciplinary action being taken in line with The FA’s Disciplinary policies and procedures.

Comments made on websites that are threatening abusive or racist could lead to legal action being taken against those responsible for posting or hosting them. Comments made may attract libel claims and legal action through the civil courts if they are untrue or defamatory.

When posting match reports, for the under 11 and below age teams, there should be no information published on line – on the website or on social networking sites that reveals the result of these matches to the reader. Any such comments will be removed.

All parents/carers are advised to familiarise themselves with the guidance offered by the Child Exploitation Online Protection (CEOP) centre; they provide guidance for parents/carers, children and young people. They also provide the most up to date guidance for online environments

If you have any concerns – please contact:

Club Welare Officer - clubwelfare@berkscountyfc.com