Observing the game

Europe's referees have earned themselves excellent reputations not only through their own sterling efforts, but also thanks to the constant care and attention that UEFA and the national associations give to their progress. The role of the referee observer is an essential component of this fostering and assessment process.

Workshops
The observers are all experienced former European referees. They attend UEFA matches at all levels to watch the match referees, mark their performance and act as crucial advisors to them after the game in discussing incidents and decisions taken. In turn, UEFA has been giving training to its observers through a series of workshops - one of which was staged last season at a UEFA Champions League match, and led by UEFA referee observer sub-committee members Jaap Uilenberg and Bo Karlsson, as well as UEFA referee instruction panel member Ken Ridden.

'Crucial role'
UEFA's head of refereeing Yvan Cornu told the workshop delegates that referee observation involved three steps - watching and analysing the match, the influence of the analysis on the mark given to the referee for his performance, and the post-match debriefing with the match officials. "Observers have a crucial role - they are not match spectators, they are 'match instructors', because they will be assessing referees on their performance and giving advice for the future," said Cornu. " Our objective is to spread the same message throughout Europe as regards uniform interpretation."

Duties
The observers are asked to analyse proactive or preventive decisions which influence the progress of the match, assess decisions that respond to the match demands, and how the referees react to the consequences of difficult situations or decisions. In assessing a referee's performance, if the observer feels a clear mistake on an important decision influences the development of a match, the mark should not be higher than satisfactory and not exceed 7.9 out of 10, deemed satisfactory. A mark higher than 8.4, a good, efficient performance, is only possible when important decisions have been identified by the observer and described in writing in his report. For a mark lower than 8.0, aspects of improvement also have to be described. Following the game, the observer meets with the four match officials - the referee, two assistants and fourth official - to discuss positive aspects and areas where improvements have to be made, with potential solutions open to general proposals.

'Sharing of ideas'
The observers attended a UEFA Champions League match, and then went into practical mode, firstly compiling their own assessment of the game. Separate groups discussed the referee's performance to reach agreement, and each group then played roles in post-match analysis with the 'referee' and 'match officials' - the latter roles were played by course leaders. Discussions were lively, opinions varied, and solutions manifold. "It is only through this sharing of ideas that we can be successful in our referee observer work," concluded Uilenberg.

This is an abridged version of an article that appears in this week's edition of the uefa.com Magazine. To read in full click here.