Turkish Football Association hold referee course

The Turkish Football Association (TFF) held its first referee development camp based on UEFA's Centre of Refereeing Excellence (CORE) programme from 14 to 21 December.

A total of eight referees and 16 assistants – all aged under 30 and forming one team from each region – were accompanied by four instructors from the remaining regions. The programme included athletic tests measuring speed, endurance, reaction times and coordination.

One of the key messages of the camp was the importance of self-assessment, with a sports psychologist working with the referees to enhance this important tool for their development. All the technical presentations were in line with the UEFA CORE programme and managed by the TFF's refereeing committee.

The on-pitch exercises, on the offside rule for the assistants and on cooperation for the complete referee teams, were a great success, especially as a result of the debriefings, for which the exercises were filmed.

The referee teams also officiated at high-level amateur games in Istanbul at the weekend. The matches were filmed and the debriefings conducted by Oğuz Sarvan personally, chairman of the TFF referee committee.

After the course all the referees, coaches and referee committee members concluded the seminar was a great success. The TFF and its referee committee are planning to hold a Turkish CORE course once a month throughout the season.