Official instructions aid players
Friday, May 8, 2009
Article summary
At the U17 finals, like at all UEFA tournaments, referee observers gave a pre-competition talk to the players and UEFA Referees' Committee member Jaap Uilenberg said the initiative has already produced positive effects.
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Communication between players and officials is important – and at all UEFA tournaments that is underlined by a pre-kick-off talk given by referee observers to the squads.
Examples
These discussions began last year, including at UEFA EURO 2008™, and continued this week at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Germany. UEFA Referees' Committee members Jaap Uilenberg and Jozef Marko showed all eight teams a DVD containing examples of offences the referees have been instructed to caution or send off players for – serious foul play, elbowing, holding, simulation, dissent and mass confrontation – though also emphasised that officials were encouraged to referee by force of personality rather than relying on cards.
Positives
"The response from the players and the coaches has been very positive," Dutch former international referee Uilenberg told uefa.com. "For example during EURO [2008] we didn't see almost any mass confrontation, less than in all the tournaments before, and I think that is positive. The players are now aware of avoiding unnecessary yellow cards."
Feedback
That is illustrated by use of 13 different clips from UEFA competition matches, showing examples of the seven areas being highlighted. "Our clips are very clear," Uilenberg said. "We have had very good feedback. I spoke to several coaches during EURO and they were very happy. Of course, sometimes in a match these things happen but now the players know that, say, if they deserve a yellow card, then they will get a yellow card. It is much clearer than before."
Clear examples
Not only is it now UEFA policy to have every squad spoken to by a referee observer before a final tournament at any level, but Uilenberg and his colleagues are encouraging the same practice at national level. "I have used the same DVD in our pre-season talk to the teams in Holland and so do other countries," Uilenberg said. "Because this DVD has such fantastic, clear examples. I think it's really successful and we will now do it in UEFA for every tournament."