Members Blogs

Laws of the Game 2022-2023 changes have been made. The new laws hav been published in English already. Curious? Download your copy. Continue reading...

IFAB has released the Laws of the game 2016-2017. They call this revision “probably the most comprehensive in The IFAB’s 130 year history”. The idea behind it: so the laws will be “appropriate for football in the 21st century”. The ultimate aim of the revision of the Laws is according to IFAB: “to increase the universality of […] Continue reading...

Bobby Charlton, Eusebio, Johan Cruijff, Franz Beckenbauer: these are just some of the players who played in matches officiated by Lau van Ravens. These days, Lau frequents the parks in the west of Holland every weekend, paying special attention to the refs doing their matches. “Reffing has become much harder”, the 93-year-old former top-flight referee […] Continue reading...

I’m not familiar with Latvian football, but according to the video below they are very creative in their tactics. It’s an u17 match between Liepajas Metalurgs (blue shirts) and JDFS Alberts (orange shirts). The blue team is already champion in the league, but they want to try something new. This is their comment posted under the video: “Take it easy, they already were champions, so in the last minutes they tried something they wanted to do all year, but there weren’t chance to do that.” The players of Liepjas Metalurgs get a free kick and surround the ball with the almost the whole team. After the referee signal, they take the kick and walk slowly forward, not giving any space to the opponents. The Alberts players try to sneak in the...

See next situation in Brazilian Serie B: a medical team offical in the match between Coxim and Ponta Porã enters the field of play during an attack in the penalty area. What should the referee decide? Explanation is added below the video. Team officials Laws of the Game, page 64, about the number of players explains how to handle in situation mentioned above. The coach and other officials on the team list (with the exception of players and substitutes) are deemend to be team officials. If a team official enters the field of play: the referee must stop play (although not immediately if the team official does not interfere with play or if the advantage can be applied) the referee must have him removed from the fi eld of play and if his...

Lots of dicussion on social media about the red card for Liverpool player Markovic by referee Bjorn Kuipers. Here is the situation. Markovic is looking where his opponent is and then swings his arm in that direction. It’s not just … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Miroslav Klose is not the new Diego Armando Maradona or Thierry Henry. The German player of Lazio SS scored with his hand, but he honestly tells the referee what he did. Referee Luca Banti had already counted the goal, because he and his (extra) assistants missed that Klose touched the ball with his hands, which gave the Napoli goalie no chance of catching the ball. That was just in the third minute and things didn’t go well for Klose’s team afterwards. Napoli striker Edson Cavani scored a hattrick after the handball and kept the club from southern Italy in the top of the Italian Serie A. The post Klose admits handball and referee cancels goal appeared first on Dutch Referee Blog. Continue reading...

A kick-off touched twice. Something you do not experience often, but referee Stan Teuben was fully concentrated and whistle. But what is the correct restart? Plus a painful personal memory about a similar incident when I wasn’t 100% ready. Video of the incident The incident happened in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, the 2nd football level […] Continue reading...

The FA Referees Department did a great thing on Twitter with Kevin Friend and Anthony Taylor answering questions. Below I’ve added the most interesting questions. All will give a wonderful insight in the world of Premier League refereeing. Share the best tip you’ve got as referee I was very happy that they also answered my […] Continue reading...

Kevin Blom went from heaven to hell after he wrongly awarded Czech Republic a penalty at Hampden Park, which costs Scotland a place at the European Championships. Now he talks about the incident with Algemeen Dagblad, a Dutch newspaper. Check … Continue reading → The post Kevin Blom: from heaven to hell in Scotland appeared first on Football: Dutch Referee Blog for match officials. Continue reading...

Kepa vs Sarri: case study when a player refuses to leave. I always thought this situation was reserved for my weekly Laws of the Game Quizzes, but it really happened in the Carabao Cup. How do you deal with this situation as a refreee? When a player refuses to leave A unique story in pics […] Continue reading...

Katy Nesbitt is the 2020 MLS AR of the year. In this blog she tells her story, shares how covid influenced her refereeing and gives advice on how you can improve as a referee. Nesbitt got into refereeing as a kid to make money, but has developed into a FIFA assistant referee and officated in […] Continue reading...

Kate Jacewicz is an ambitious Australian referee. In 2019 she officiates at the 2019 Women’s World Cup and becomes part of the Hyundai A-League’s (men’s highest level) referee panel. I’m very happy she took the time to share her story and some very relevant tips for us as referees. Have a good read. The blog […] Continue reading...

This video is worth watching: Kari Seitz, top female referee from the United States, tells a crowd about recent Women’s World Cup situations. Soccer Referee USA made it available on YouTube for all referees so we can learn from it … Continue reading → The post Kari Seitz talks about game situations in Women’s World Cup appeared first on Football: Dutch Referee Blog for match officials. Continue reading...

logo CNRA California North Referee Administration (CNRA) organised a special meeting with the American referees at the London Olympics last summer. Tim Weyland, State Director of Instruction for CNRA, speaks with Kari Seitz, Veronica Perez and Marlene Duffy. The refereeing trio als posted their stories during the Olympics in their Journal of the soccer referees representing the USA at the London Olympic Games 2012. For Kari Seitz it was her third consecutive appointment for an Olympic tournament. The trio got the opening match and a quarter final, but was send home afterwards – the US team reached the final. The team was disappointed, but had many good experiences. “We’ve loved every minute of the games and we owe a large part of that...

The juggling referee: nice skills from this football match offial. Sometimes referees are talented players as well. Watch the juggling referee video below, taken at a recent World Futbol Tour event in Charleston, South Carolina. The post Juggling referee shows skills at tournament appeared first on Football: Dutch Referee Blog for match officials. Continue reading...

Joshua Jacob Bodek is a young Polish referee with great ambitions for his career, although he only may become a referee in his country at the age of 16. An interview with Dutch Referee Blog: “My name is Joshua Jacob … Continue reading → Continue reading...

Strange situation in the Spanish Cup match: Jordi Alba got hit by assistant referee. Alba tried to get the ball and walked over the line. The assistant referee signalled for a throw-in for Atletico Madrid and the Barca player tried to walk back as soon as possible. He ran on right side of the AR, […] Continue reading...

Some appointments are too good to ignore. A friend got unfortunately injured and asked if I could replace him in a friendly game Jong ADO – Aruba. The first team is the u23 team from the professional club ADO Den Haag in the city I live in. Aruba came with the national team, and this […] Continue reading...

What goes on in the head of a referee before an important game? Jon Moss tells about what it means to referee the FA Cup final: “It’s the realisation of a dream. It’s the culmination of years of hard work”. During his refereeing career Jon Moss has experienced a lot and he shares his story with us […] Continue reading...