Referees talking a good game

By Mark Chaplin

Whenever you see a referee in conversation on the pitch with a player during a major European club match, unless the referee knows the language of the player concerned, there is a good chance that the official will be talking in English.

Preferred language
English has become the preferred language of communication within UEFA's refereeing sector, and at the recent UEFA referee courses in Corfu it was clear that many top European referees are comfortable with English - some would even put native speakers to shame with their mastery of Shakespeare's tongue!

Written test
However, UEFA needs to be certain that the young referees looking to join its international list can make themselves understood in the language so newcomers on the introductory course were asked to take a written test to assess their fluency. The rookies watched an incident from a match and were asked to write up a disciplinary report on the incident they witnessed.

Valid reasons
The examination was led by Englishman Ken Ridden, a long-serving member of the UEFA Referees' Committee, who told the referees why they were required to take the test and the reasons why UEFA wishes its referees to have English knowledge. "If you're feeling nervous, please don't worry," he told them before the test. "We're not looking for people to write clever grammar. What the UEFA Referees' Committee has to know is, when it comes to a match, can you referee and when it comes to a disciplinary report, can you report in simple words what you've seen?

Strict punishment
"UEFA's disciplinary punishments are very strict, the punishment of a player to whom you give a red or yellow card can be quite strong and sometimes the punishment given depends on your report," he added. "The UEFA Disciplinary Committee is looking to you to tell them the reasons why you gave a red card. If you can't spell a word exactly, don't worry, or about full stops or question marks. Make a very simple statement about what you see."

Universal language
"Some years ago, FIFA decided that all international referees should be able to speak English," Ridden told uefa.com. "The background is two-fold: firstly, whenever there is any doubt about languages, English is a universal language which is spoken everywhere. Also, since the International FA Board was set up, in any dispute about the laws, the decisive version has been the English version, which is fairly critical from the refereeing point of view."

Full picture
The Referees' Committee is impressing on new UEFA referees that it is no help just to write one line about why they gave a red or yellow card. "The Disciplinary Committee needs to get a full picture if there is a dispute about a red or yellow card," said Ridden. "The referees have to try and describe an incident so that somebody who wasn't at the scene can understand what happened."

UEFA advice
As in any group, there are those referees who have an excellent command of English and those who still have some work to do. "It's interesting to see whether it is a matter of English or a matter of perception and recall of the incident," explained Ridden, who also said that in the event of a referee needing to brush up his basic English, UEFA may write to the relevant national association to advise the taking of a course.

Determined and diligent
Given that referees have been so determined and diligent in reaching this level in terms of their skills and physical fitness, they are also likely to be just as devoted to getting themselves up to scratch in English.