A football referee in England has been suspended for three weeks after it emerged he had abandoned the standard pre-match coin toss ahead of a Women’s Super League match in favour of a game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’.

The Football Association announced Thursday that referee David McNamara had accepted a charge of “not acting in the best interests of the game” prior to a WSL match between Manchester City and Reading last month.

Under the laws of football, a referee must conduct a coin toss between the two captains to decide which team kicks off.

But instead, it has been reported that McNamara, after leaving his coin in the changing room, invited City captain Steph Houghton and Reading skipper Kirsty Pearce to participate in the child’s game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ instead.

“The FA can confirm that referee David McNamara has been suspended for 21 days, starting from Monday 26 November, after accepting a charge of ‘not acting in the best interests of the game’,” an FA spokesperson said Thursday.

“This follows an incident in the WSL match between Manchester City and Reading on Friday 26 October, when he failed to determine which team would kick off the match by the toss of a coin, as required by the laws of the game.

“McNamara will return to duty from Monday 17 December.” (AFP)