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A first step on the referees' ladder

Refereeing

A UEFA Under-17 final round gives young referees their first chance to shine at international level.

The UEFA European Under-17 Championship final round, which is currently taking place in Denmark, serves to provide important pointers for the future in the European refereeing sector – not only for the referees themselves, but also for the UEFA Referees Committee.

Guiding progress
The Referees Committee members present at the final round, who are all former match officials, observe the referees who have been appointed for the event with a view to guiding their progress as UEFA referees.

Referees Committee member Ken Ridden, from England, gave uefa.com an insight into the refereeing aspects of a UEFA European youth tournament.

uefa.com: What are the duties of Referees Committee members at UEFA Under-17 final rounds?
Ken Ridden: “Well, first of all, we are of course responsible for appointing the referees for the tournament - which can be quite a difficult task, as there are so many talented young people out there. Then we function as referee observers during the tournament, which means that we provide match analysis of the games for the individual referee, to provide him with feedback on his performance. And, finally, at the end of the quarter-finals, we have to decide who stays and who goes home.”

uefa.com: In choosing referees for a tournament like this, what are you looking for?
KR: “This tournament gives young referees the chance to shine on the international football scene for the first time. Most of them have only been listed as FIFA referees from January 2002 and we try to get together a group that is reasonably spread around Europe.”

uefa.com: What do you generally accomplish with the referees during the three weeks of the tournament?
KR: “The tournament gives us an opportunity to get to know not only their qualities as referees but also their qualities as people. Unlike UEFA club matches, where we only make short acquaintances with the referees, a tournament gives us the chance to get to know them personally. Just the other day, we had a referee who did not live up to his usual level, but he had received bad news about his mother’s health during the morning. If I had known about this, I would have advised him not to referee on that day, and so it is important to get to know them on a personal level.”

uefa.com: How do referees generally profit from an Under-17 tournament?
KR: “The referees generally learn to handle situations which are different from the ones they experience in their domestic leagues. They have to adapt to a different environment - for instance, in terms of language. When they suddenly no longer speak the same language as the players, they have to get into the habit of using simple words and we have to teach them control through body language.”

uefa.com: How should a referee approach an Under-17 match? How would it be different to refereeing, say, a top adult domestic match in terms of pace, positioning, etc?
KR: “Players generally make a lot more mistakes at this level than at senior level, which means that players aren’t always able to carry out what they want to, and that is something the referee should be wary of - which can be a testing physical experience.”

uefa.com: Does the referee of an Under-17 tournament match have different criteria in terms of enforcing discipline on the pitch? Do you ask the referees to let the game flow more?
KR: “I wouldn’t say that the referee should allow a more flowing game, but the referee should generally show a reasonable understanding of the attitude of young players. If you allow young players to get very agitated at this level, you give them false pretences for the future. As with the referees, the players are also at a very early stage in their careers and if you are able to set the tolerance level from the start, it’s the foundation for a good relationship between the referee and the player.”

uefa.com: If the referees do well during this tournament, could this be a stepping stone to a higher level?
KR: “Definitely. I would expect all the referees who excel during this tournament to step into the UEFA club competitions and they could well be refereeing UEFA Intertoto Cup and UEFA Cup matches in the coming season.”

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