2023 Discipline Hearing Dates

Discipline Hearings will be held every 2nd Thursday of each month.  Hearings will be held on a First Come – First Served Basis.

Rights of the Accused

Discipline Policies

The following are the Policies for discipline management under the jurisdiction of the District Soccer Association (DSA). The DSA follows Ontario Soccer's Published Policies and Procedures and will adhere to the Discipline Policies in Section 12.0 – Discipline.

To the extent permitted by the Ontario Soccer Policies and Procedures, jurisdiction for all game-related discipline involving players and team officials at the District League and Club League levels shall be delegated by DSA to the appropriate District League or Club League. This responsibility may be revoked at any time.

The DSA will have scheduled discipline dates posted. They will be held approximately once per week and will hear all respective cases that were received prior to the regularly scheduled discipline dates as outlined below. The accused and the Club of the accused are required to attend a disciplinary hearing and must appear at the next scheduled Discipline Hearing date. The Club will be responsible for communicating all necessary information before and after the hearing to the accused. Discipline for yellow or red cards or dismissal at a game will be handed by DBR as outlined in OS Discipline Policy at PUBLISHED dates as outline. All Other discipline matters will be handed by DBH with a 15-day notice sent out.

Failing to Appear at Hearing when required:

Failure to appear at a Discipline Hearing, when required to do so, will result in an individual accused being suspended from all soccer activities and fined, and an organization accused being fined, as per the attached DSA Schedule of Fees, Fines, Bonds and Penalties. An accused individual who failed to attend a hearing will remain suspended from all soccer activities until they submit a written request together with the recorded payment for the fine for failing to appear and the fee for requesting a hearing as specified in the DSA Schedule “D” of Fees, Fines, Bonds and Penalties as published annually by the DSA. The individual will remain suspended till they attend such hearing. Any period of this suspension will NOT count towards any suspension from said hearing.

Request for Postponement

Any party required to attend a hearing may request one (1) postponement of a hearing as per the Ontario Soccer Discipline Policies. The requesting party must submit a request in writing, with the postponement fee in the form of a recorded payment (of $125.00 to the governing organization), no later than four (4) days prior to the date of that hearing, stating the reason for requesting the postponement. Should the request be denied, the fee shall be refunded. The Governing Organization shall have full discretion to refund the “Request for Postponement Fee" if sufficient reason warrants such action. No fee is payable by the person(s) who filed the misconduct report(s) on which the charge(s) is/are based. 

Pleading Guilty

An accused party may plead guilty and forego a hearing as per the Ontario Soccer Discipline Policies.

Such a request must be made in writing no later than four (4) days prior to the date of the hearing.

Witnesses/Observers/Advisors/Club Representatives

An accused has the right to bring witnesses, an advisor, and observers to any Discipline Hearing as per the Ontario Soccer Discipline Policies (please refer to the Policies for definitions)

Notification of Decision

As per Ontario Soccer Discipline Policies, the Discipline Hearing decision shall be forwarded in writing by email/mail to the parties involved within fifteen (15) days of the conclusion of the hearing (or by designated web site). The decision shall include the “Rights of Appeal Information”

Game Official Assault

An individual accused of an alleged Game Official Assault will be suspended immediately from all soccer activity and will remain suspended pending a hearing by the DSA Discipline Panel acting as an Ontario Soccer Discipline Hearing Panel. The following individuals must attend the hearing in person: the accused; the person(s) submitting the report(s); and the Club Representative. Any suspension that is assessed following a Discipline Panel decision will include any period of suspension already served. If the accused is found guilty of Game Official Assault, the Club of the accused shall be assessed a “Discipline Hearing Administrative Fee” as per the DSA Scheduled of Fees, Fines, Bonds and Penalties in addition to the set fine charged to the accused. It is the responsibility of all Clubs to disseminate this discipline policy to their coaches and players.

Important Notes:

**It is the player/coach/club responsibility to be aware of the discipline dates – you may only be given one weeks’ notice to attend a discipline hearing date that is posted on our website. You can expect an invitation 1 - 2 weeks from the date of the incident.
All discipline cases must be confirmed (by email) by Monday at 4:30pm for the Wednesday of that week.

The hearing will not be held if the accused is not in possession of their Ontario Soccer Book/ID Card.

**** Discipline By Review will be held every Thursday.