Members Blogs

Don't worry I've not fallen for the dubious delights of the game where you can play for five days and not have a winner (cricket). Yesterday at Charlton the referee abandoned the game at half time when he decided the field was waterlogged. Although I've only seen the brief highlights provided on the BBC's Football League Show, there is no doubt the decision was the correct one. When we talk on the Basic Course about conducting a field of play inspection we make reference to very wet fields. Back in October the referee of the Poland vs England World Cup qualifier was seen going back to basics to test out the surface before postponing the game. Yesterday's referee probably went through the same process but as the rain continued to fall...

These are the officials appointed by UEFA for the 2nd Qualifying Round of UEFA Champions League. Missing appointments will be published in due course. 11/07/2017 Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu, Baku (AZE), 19:00 CET FK Qarabağ Ağdam (AZE) - FC Samtredia (GEO) Referee: Mete Kalkavan (TUR) Assistant Referee 1: Esat Sancaktar (TUR) Assistant Referee 2: Erdem Bayik (TUR) Continue reading...

My road to become a referee teacher has started today. Yes, I am already teaching and helping new referees via my referee website. But now I am also selected to become referee teacher at KNVB. This is something I really want to do. My goal is not just to improve as a referee, but also […] Continue reading...

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Do we need video referees in football and how will they be used? The Football Association in England has send the professional clubs a survey about the use of it. “Video referee in Premier League step closer”, writes the Daily Mail. The use of goal-line technology started in 2013 in the Premier League. First time […] Continue reading...

This scenario is not all that common in a football match. It was a while before I truly appreciated the mechanics behind it and it requires a closer look to understand what was really going on. Picture this. Scenario Ball kicked high into the air. Two players jostling for position where it’s about to land. […] Continue reading...

You might think you’re ready for all your games. You are a physically fit referee, but you still don’t earn your promotion or some negatives thoughts are keeping you behind the others. That’s because you find it difficult to deal with negative feelings or you don’t know how to deal with setbacks. “Now is the […] Continue reading...

The best read stories on Dutch Referee Blog for 2016. Enjoy them and please let me know on jan@dutchreferee.com what you want to learn next year and I’ll try to write some interesting stories about that topic. In the next few days I’ll come up with a series on goal-setting and giving your referee career […] Continue reading...

These are the officials appointed for 2017 U20 WC Group Stage MD1. 20/05/17Venezuela - Germany (B)Referee: Jihad Zaghlul Jarisha (Egypt)Assistant Referee 1: Ridwan A'achiq (Morocco)Assistant Referee 2: Walid Ahmad Ali (Sudan)Fourth Official: Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)Video Assistant Referee 1: Mahdi Ubaid Sharif (Algeria)Video Assistant Referee 2: Éric Arnaud Otogo Castane (Gabon) Continue reading...

How to prepare for a fitness test? That’s a crucial question before the season starts, but also when you have to pass the test later on in your season. In this blog post you receive tips on how to prepare by Stephen Oduor. He is a trained FIFA and CAF physical fitness instructor and a […] Continue reading...

Week 15 Laws of the Game Quiz 2020-2021: best of with the most difficult questions from first season half. After a winter break, the quiz restarts again. You can get a notification e-mail if you subscribe or is you’re already a regular newsletter reader, you can update preferences and tick the LOTG quiz season box. […] Continue reading...

A Refsworld package arrived on Wednesday and I was excited to receive it. It had a few requests from the RA AGM meeting less than a month ago so I could pass off the equipment to other refs before I left. Wednesday afternoon was running day this week. Jogging outside is a little more interesting […] Continue reading...

Bjorn Kuipers is on one of the referees for Euro 2016. He is picked along with 17 other referees. Two referees from England are selected. That means that both Martin Atkinson and Mark Clattenburg will join Kuipers in France for the European Championships. Full list of referees for Euro 2016 Martin Atkinson (England) Felix Brych […] Continue reading...

A camera on the line to determine if a goal is scored. Seems fair. But do the costs of goal-line technology weigh up against the advantages? In the Premier League it has cost each team around £250,000 to install the systems. That’s an indication of the costs for all countries. “If you look at it […] Continue reading...

Danish international referee Jens Maae has been chosen to officiate the final of UEFA's Under-17 EURO 2017 between Spain and England in Croatia. He will be assisted by Finnish Mika Lamppu and Russia's Aleksey Vorontsov on the sidelines. Anastassios Papapetrou from Greece will serve as fourth official. UEFA Vice Refereeing Officer Marc Batta will observe and assess their performance. Good luck! Continue reading...

Swiss official Esther Staubli will officiate the Women’s Euro final in The Netherlands. The game will be played in Enschede between The Netherlands and Denmark. Referee: Esther Staubli (Switzerland) Assistants: Belinda Brem (Switzerland), Sanja Rodjak Karšić (Croatia) Fourth official: Bibiana Steinhaus (Germany) Reserve assistant referee: Katrin Rafalski (Germany) In 2015, after getting the CL […] Continue reading...

Pulling shirts and shorts in football, Neymar giving the referee a shirt and more news. Photo series: Pulling shirts and shorts in football Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant publishes a photo series in the middle pages of their newspaper everyday. Last week they made a collections where playres pulling shirts and shorts in football. A nice […] Continue reading...

The following officials will be in charge of 2016-17 UEFA Europa League Group Stage Matchday 3 games (in progress). Group G, 20 October 2016, 19:00 CET Balaídos, Vigo (ESP) RC Celta de Vigo - AFC Ajax Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (SVK) Assistant Referee 1: Martin Balko (SVK) Assistant Referee 2: Tomas Somolani (SVK) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kralovic (SVK) Additional Assistant Continue reading...

The new quiz is live. It’s week 18 Laws of the Game Quiz 2018-2019. How do you like the quizzes so far? Thanks all for participating. An interesting one this week. How would you handle in the following situation? A player is in offside position at the moment of the pass in his direction. At […] Continue reading...

2020 UEFA Champions League final referee is Daniele Orsato. He will officiate the game between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. The final will be held in the Benfica stadium in Lisbon at 9pm CET on Sunday August 23rd. From Uefa.com: The 44-year-old Italian, an international referee since 2010, will be taking charge of his first major […] Continue reading...