New age for referees

By Christian Châtelet

French and Scottish refereeing trios are now linked through wireless mini-earphones during league matches. This innovation has been imported from rugby union, and is destined to be extended.

New era
It is no coincidence that France and Scotland are the first countries to step into a new era as both take part in the Six Nations Tournament, the most famous European rugby competition. For many years now in this sport the match referee has been communicating with his assistants using earphones and radio contact - a system which has now reached the round-ball game.

Small earphone
Each of the four referees has a small earphone, a microphone and a 300-500g battery to keep the system alive during a match. "The system is exactly the same as the system used in [the] French rugby league," said Xavier Daniel, the project manager for the Ligue de Football Professionnelle (LFP). "The first experiment was held in France on 9 November 2002 for a top-division match between Lille OSC and FC Nantes Atlantique. As everyone was keen on it, we made other experiments in the French Cup and French League Cup competitions. And this season, all the Ligue 1 matches will be played with this system."

A plus
"For sure, it's a plus for all of us," referee Laurent Duhamel said after the first experiment. "Instead of moving to communicate from one side of the field to the other, you just have to speak." With this system, the main referee can talk to any of his assistants, but the assistants have to push a button before speaking and cannot be heard by other assistants. This explains why, for the moment, the use of the system is more focused on current decisions and information - substitutions, the announcement of additional time - than on critical decisions. "But it's just the beginning. The system will evolve according to users' needs," Daniel added.

Scotland's big day
After 18 months of experimentation, the big day has also arrived in Scotland. "Not all matches will be covered in the first few weeks, but eventually the equipment will be used in more matches," said Donald McVicar, the Scottish FA's head of referee development. The system is also spreading over the world, as it was deployed during the recent FIFA Confederations' Cup in France. "It should be noted that the medias gave the impetus for the system," Daniel explained. "For us, the TF1 channel was an important partner.

Important stake
"Of course it's an important stake and we are reflecting about it about it," he continued. "One thing for sure is that it will be first used to teach young referees what to say or not to say. The game must first benefit from such equipment. Eventual commercial use will be looked into at a later stage, once the system is fully installed."