Members Blogs

The substitution procedure is new in the 2019-2020 season. The biggest change: players leave the field of play at the nearest point on the boundary line. But what if players refuse? Or what would be a good reason to do differently? A nice case study with video examples for you. T When can a player […] Continue reading...

Simon Breivik from PGMOL gives fitness tips. I’ve been reading a lot about fitness and found some interesting tips in the FA and RA’s Refereeing magazine. I’ve distilled 5 important lessons that are very useful for every referee. During a referee conference they asked Simon Breivik to teach about fitness. He’s the Head of Fitness […] Continue reading...

Week 4 Laws of the Game Quiz 2019-2020. I’ve made all quizzes for this month at once in August. Now I publish them I think this one is quite easy. So can you score 5 out of 5? Laden… Continue reading...

The Pierluigi Collina fitness tips are part of my second blog post on Fitness Friday. After watching the Pierluigi Collina Master Class I started reading his book again. It’s from 2003 and at that time he already stresses the importance of fitness for referees, because the games are going faster. Run, referee, run Run, referee, […] Continue reading...

It’s time for Week 3 Laws of the Game Quiz 2019-2020. A quick correction from last week’s quiz. The question last week should have mentioned whether it was a careless or reckless challenge. I’ve been in touch with IFAB about the question where the sanction is administered at the next stoppage, because you let the […] Continue reading...

Fitness Friday is the new section on my referee blog. Lots of referees ask me for fitness plans, tips for their running or ways to train your physical ability. Fitness Friday is for you, because you are the referee who wants to get physically fitter, better positioned. You want to become a better referee. Football […] Continue reading...

The first test of the new season was well-received. Thanks all for participating. I’ll try something new this year. The tests will now go live on Tuesdays, the day my newsletter goes out. On Friday’s you’ll get something back: fitness tips. So remember: Test Tuesday, Fitness Friday. Good luck with Week 2 Laws of the […] Continue reading...

The new quiz season starts. Are you prepared? Good luck with Week 1 Laws of the Game Quiz 2019-2020. I was triggered by a quote from Riem Hussein, Women’s World Cup referee in 2019. She says On Deutche Welle (in English): “In theory, there were a huge number of changes. My fist thought was that […] Continue reading...

Pierluigi Collina Master Class. I case you haven’t seen it, it’s worth watching. Below you find 5 important lessons from the masterclass and in the video Collina explains them. Tips from the masterclass “It is not only important that you are good. You also need to look good. Football needs athletes as referees.” “What makes […] Continue reading...

Handball before goal is scored. A new situation in the Laws of the Game, explained with text and video in this blog post. Make sure that you know how to handle from the 2019-2020 season onwards. Because of the recent law changes, you need to make a different decision as referee compared to previous seasons. […] Continue reading...

This is the last quiz of our season and is based on the 18/19 IFAB Laws of the Game (should be same for 19/20) - dedicated to our finals series games which are knock out games https://form.jotform.co/91899275738883 As always, you will see your score once you submit. If you put a correct email address in, all questions, your answers, correct answers and LOTG references are auto-emailed to you. Your email is not used for anything else but if you don't want to use your email, message me the name you used and I can message you back with the content of your quiz result. Oh and watch out for those tricky ones. Answers may be discussed in the thread so best to do the quiz before reading the rest of the thread.

The quiz is based on the 18/19 IFAB Laws of the Game (should be same for 19/20) https://form.jotform.co/91603969635872 As always, you will see your score once you submit. If you put a correct email address in, all questions, your answers, correct answers and LOTG references are auto-emailed to you. Your email is not used for anything else but if you don't want to use your email, message me the name you used and I can message you back with the content of your quiz result. Oh and watch out for those tricky ones. Answers may be discussed in the thread so best to do the quiz before reading the rest of the thread.

Joe Fletcher was only 14 years old when he started as a referee. An easy way to get some money. After climbing the ranks receiving money was not that important when it costs you eight hours of travel. “Then achievement becomes more important, the level of football is then more relevant.” I’m very glad he […] Continue reading...

Michelle O’Neill will be involved in the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. She’s the assistant referee of Stéphanie Frappart. They first worked together at O’Neil’s first main Uefa tournament, the u19 Euro’s. “Where I was very succesfull and got all the way the final.” Seven years later they will add another pinnacle to their cooperation […] Continue reading...

The smoothest handshake for referees in the player tunnel is by Joe Fletcher. The Canadian assistant referee is – at least amongst referees – known for this. PS: next week a full interview with this Canadian top AR. It all happens during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The 18th of June in Estádio Maracanã. […] Continue reading...

The Single Double Single High Intensity Interval Test is a new way to test the fitness level of referees. Besides the regular FIFA Fitness test for referees and assistant referees this is an extra option. It will officially be used at the highest levels, but you might want to give it a try. In this […] Continue reading...

Goalkeepers and penalty kicks: the 2019 Women’s World Cup has shown us something new. The use of VAR during this tournament changes a lot. Where goalkeepers usually take a step forward with penalty kicks, the video referee interferes at this final tournament in Paris. But is the VAR correct to do so? Yes, he is. […] Continue reading...

The quizze is based on the 18/19 IFAB Laws of the Game. (impacts Q10 only) https://www.jotform.com/form/91313390237856 As always, you will see your score once you submit. If you put a correct email address in, all questions, your answers, correct answers and LOTG references are auto-emailed to you. Your email is not used for anything else but if you don't want to use your email, message me the name you used and I can message you back with the content of your quiz result. Oh and watch out for those tricky ones. Answers may be discussed in the thread so best to do the quiz before reading the rest of the thread.

The Uefa u17 Championship referees show some good things during their tournament. In the highlights you’ll see lots of things that you can learn from as well. The videos below give you some great insights in how to handle in some situations. I hope you can learn from them. Adapting to play when cross comes […] Continue reading...

Referee Claudia Umpierrez from Uruguay will officiate the opening match at the Women’s World Cup 2019. She can’t wait to get involved in a this big tournament in France. “The 90 minutes of every match is what it all comes down to. You have all this preparation but that is the important part.” But how […] Continue reading...