Manchester United's 19-year-old star Wayne Rooney was caught on camera swearing 20 times in a one-minute exchange with the referee during a game last month against Arsenal, according to a British educator campaigning to ban obscene language from English day-time TV.
The suggestion by Martin Ward, deputy general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, would mean English soccer games could not be aired until after 9 pm.
According to Reuters, a spokesman for BBC TV called the suggestion ridiculous.
In making his case, Ward pointed out that Rooney may have used as many as 100 obscene words during the game, a 4-2 ManU victory.
''When a player tells a referee to 'f*** off' in full view of millions of people on television he should be sent off, not for a repeated offence but first time, every time, however famous he may be,'' Ward was quoted as saying in The Guardian.