Father's football photos banned

Ken Paine was told to stop taking pictures of his son, Jake

A decision by a referee to stop parents taking pictures of their children at an under-16s football match has led to a Football Association (FA) inquiry.

The referee threatened to abandon the match unless Ken Paine stopped taking pictures of his 15-year-old son, Jake.

Mr Paine said other people who saw the discussion taking place at the Ashford game made comments about paedophiles.

The Kent FA said the referee acted in good faith, but child protection had not been totally understood.

'Families upset'

Mr Paine said: "The referee stopped the play and came over to me and asked if I was a member of the press.

"I said 'No'. He said, 'So why are you taking photographs?'.

"I said, 'Because my son's playing' and he said, 'Well you can't do that I'm afraid'.

"I said, 'Well why not?' and he said, 'Because of the Child Protection Act'."

Mr Paine added: "Other people could see that there was a discussion going on about people trying to take pictures with cameras.

Child protection... has been an emotive subject Keith Masters

"They said, 'Oh there are a couple of paedos', meaning paedophiles, which obviously is going to upset your children if other kids are saying that about your parents."

The FA told BBC South East there was nothing to stop parents taking pictures of their children playing football, and all referees had at least three hours of child protection training.

It said fresh guidelines on child protection were being issued to local clubs in coming weeks.

Keith Masters, from the Kent FA, said: "The child protection element, since it has been involved in football, has been an emotive subject.

"It's been a subject which hasn't been totally understood and I think it hasn't been handled at times in the best way that it could have been."