Not only surrounding them, but they're supposed to book every non-captain that talk with them.
Unfortunately the issue with creating laws that are impossible to follow is that they will very soon get watered out completely. Its like sending people to jail for not remaining entirely calm and quiet if they step on a sharp object.
There's also situations where it 100% benefits everyone to have a short word.
If a player calmly tells the ref "hey the number 3 is pulling my shirt all the time, why no free kick?", the ref can either say "oi lad, I haven't seen it but I'll look out for it" or he can be a complete knob an give the player a petty yellow card and piss everyone off.
Not to mention it really could only be a thing on elite level where people are ****s. If you're supposed to send off people for joking with you in a non-league game, people aren't going to be want to be refs because part of the fun is to talk with people.
Its a bit like the "six-second-rule" with goalkeepers that require them to channel their inner Albert Einstein every time they catch the ball. Since it was introduced in 1997 it has been followed by no one at any level because not every goalkeeper has the 200 IQ required to immediately know what to do with the ball or the pace and fitness of Usain Bolt to get up within six seconds and get the ball away after going to ground and making a difficult save.
