Top refs warm up for tests ahead

Europe's leading referees will have lessons from recent history to inspire them this week, when they prepare for forthcoming challenges at the latest UEFA winter courses for match officials.

Exemplary
The high standard of refereeing achieved at UEFA EURO 2008™ will serve as an example when match officials attend either the 17th UEFA Advanced Course for Elite and Premier Referees or the 18th Introductory Course for International Referees.

Form guide
A total of 26 Elite referees, eleven Premier referees and 18 Premier Development referees will be invited to raise the bar even higher than witnessed last summer when they gather for the advanced course in Benalmadena on Wednesday and Thursday. These officials, including ten of the 12 assigned to EURO games in Austria and Switzerland, will be encouraged to continue their excellent form as the European club competition season resumes with UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches in February. Fourteen of the referees present are in contention to officiate at the next big event on the international football calendar: the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Comprehensive insight
The 38 delegates for the introductory course, all European referees new to the international list in 2009, will be given a comprehensive insight into the duties and responsibilities attendant on representing UEFA as a match official. Their course runs from Monday to Thursday.

Practical and theory
The advanced-course participants will undergo a fitness test – sprints and interval runs – carried out under the watchful eye of UEFA referee training expert Werner Helsen. Away from the track, the advanced programme will address such topics as decision-making in the penalty area, managing top-quality players and leadership, while also providing the game's arbiters with guidance on administrative or practical matters. The UEFA Referees Committee – comprising experienced former international referees – will ask the referees on both courses to review action from UEFA EURO 2008™ and recent UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup games, through the use of video presentations – helping them prepare for forthcoming appointments.

Detailed
UEFA, in co-operation with the Spanish Football Federation, has organised a thorough schedule for the introductory course. The agenda includes a full FIFA fitness test, mental preparation interviews, medical examination and injury prevention evaluation – all conducted in English, which will serve as an informal test of the referees' English-language knowledge, given that English is now deemed UEFA's common referee language.

DVD evidence
The theoretical part of the introductory course will cover questions as wide-ranging as judging physical challenges, awareness of footballing trends and how to protect the image of the game. The Referees Committee will present DVD evidence from the last year to illustrate what is required of an international-class referee.

Working together
The advice and instruction offered by the courses is intended to complement the ongoing assessment of referees by former match officials at each UEFA game they take charge of. The work done in Spain should also spur the participants to meet their high targets over the next 12 months and beyond.