Assistants fly the flag in Nyon

By Mark Chaplin

Confidence, courage and concentration - three elements that an assistant referee needs to reach the top of his trade in Europe.

Three traits
The continent's leading 'flag-men' were urged to remember these three traits when they gathered at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, for the third UEFA seminar for assistant referees. Much of the advice given to, and coming from, the assistant referees applies to anyone who holds the flag in any category of the game.

Fine-tuning
Members of UEFA's referees committee joined the assistants for two days of discussions and workshops aimed at fine-tuning the assistant referees' preparations for the season ahead. The assistant referee's task has become even more demanding as the pace of the modern-day game has increased, and key items on the agenda included signalling, positioning, communication and co-operation with referees. UEFA is keen that both the referees and their assistants adopt as uniform an approach as possible to decision-taking.

Fully concentrated
An important point to emerge from the discussions was that assistant referees must maintain concentration throughout the match to help them spot narrow offside decisions until the final whistle, and alert the referee to offences which may have taken place behind his back. They should have the confidence and courage in each situation to signal an infringement, especially those which take place in the penalty area.

Examples requested
With regard to concentration, UEFA asked the assistants to provide examples of how they worked on this aspect of their job, to enable the European body to draw up practical advice which can be used by all assistants.

Fitness advice
Fitness is a vital aspect of an assistant referee's armoury, and it was stressed at the seminar that the training undertaken by assistants is of a specific nature, and often quite different to the training for referees. Werner Helsen, the Belgian fitness expert who works with UEFA on referee fitness and training programmes, came to Nyon to give the assistants an insight into the specific training methods deployed for their role.

Use the flag
It was stressed that although the assistant referees were able to make use of a beeper to attract the referees' attention, the flag still remains their main method of communication, and the assistants should signal clearly when they needed to alert the referee to an incident.

Intervene and act
In addition, the assistants were urged to intervene and act quickly to step between players in the event of an incident close to them. "This basic principle means that you are looking after the interests of football, because you are to acting in the interests of fair play," explained Ken Ridden, a referees committee member.

Report racism
UEFA has urged referees and their assistants to report incidents of racism on and off the pitch. An assistant referee may hear or see racist conduct or comments in the stand directly behind him, and Piara Power, a representative of the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network, gave a presentation to the assistants on the Europe-wide campaign being waged by UEFA and FARE to eliminate racism from football.

Sterling work
The seminar concluded with praise from UEFA for the sterling work being undertaken by Europe's assistant referees. "The success of seminars such as this is made possible by your interest, enthusiasm, input and expertise as the top assistants in Europe," Ridden told them. "We would ask you also to pass on our thanks to your families for their understanding, given that you are often travelling for your UEFA duties."