In the 21st century, he began to rely heavily on modern technology in the management of football matches, including the wireless communication system between referees, in which we reveal the most important rules of conversation and what the referees say to each other during the course of the matches; Especially after the video assistant referee (VAR) appeared since the 2018 World Cup
The referee of the square is the biggest beneficiary of wireless communication; Because it ensures the greatest possible assistance to him, especially during difficult situations, and often this happens without anyone ever feeling that the decision made by the referee was based on the advice of the assistant referee, the referee of the mouse or even the fourth official.
Some
of the rulers
One of the former referees – who declined to be named – says that some referees have become dependent on helping the rest of the crew in most arbitration situations.
He remembers that he helped Massimo Busacca, the director of arbitration for the International Football Association “FIFA” (FIFA), and he often repeated the word “help me” in many arbitration cases during the match, noting that they were expressing their opinion, which he often takes, and does not It only shows that he is the decision maker.
Of course, a distinguished referee is one who does not seek the opinion of his assistants; Except in the narrowest of limits, and in arbitrary cases close to them or difficult cases, in which he does not have a good viewing angle that enables him to make the right decision, which is the main function of mouse referees.
Before the emergence of wireless communication systems among them, the referees used common signals instead of talking, and sometimes the assistant or fourth referee called the court referee to warn him of a serious mistake that occurred far from him to take the appropriate decision.
4 cases
The Qatari international referee, Abdul Rahman Al-Jassem, who participated in the arbitration of the World Cup in Russia 2018, states that the conversation between the referees of the mouse and the referees of the arena through the closed circuit of the referees must be serious and specific in the four decisions, which are determined by the football law only, which is crossing the ball Goal or not, offside in the case of questionable goals, sending-offs and warnings for a player who is cautioned by the referee or sent off by mistake in place of his teammate, and questionable penalty kicks that counted or did not count.
Al-Jassem, who moderated the final match of the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar 2019, confirms that no words are allowed outside the text, so that the referees do not lose their focus during the matches.
One of the former assistant international referees – who declined to be named – told Al Jazeera Net that he often helped the rulers of the arena, who helped them in difficult or far from them, and even in international tournaments without anyone feeling, and he mentions that in the 2009 Youth World Cup in Egypt he referred to The referee of the arena by calculating a handball on a striker who played the ball with his hand in a cunning way away from the referee’s angle of vision, and was on his way to score a goal for his team in the quarter-finals.
The previous referee confirms that the communication devices facilitate the task for the referees, and abolish the old method of calling the assistant or fourth referee to rule the arena in a scene that was familiar in the midst of a crowd of intrusive players, who want to hear the referees talk.
FIFA Instructions
In order to clarify what should and what should not be said in the referees’ dialogues through the headphones, we review the most important instructions that the FIFA Referees Committee circulated to the referees after entering the mouse, and they revolve around the four previously mentioned cases only.
Where the speech should be focused on the case and the event only, and the speaker should be one, and start his speech by mentioning his name, and the rest should listen to him and not interrupt him until he communicates his idea.
Speaking through the headphones must be to confirm and not to deny (eg in the case of a foul inside the penalty area, the speaker from the refereeing staff must say “Penalty kick” and must not say “No penalty”), and must repeat the word 3 times; Example (penalty kick – penalty kick – penalty kick) to emphasize and clarify his words.
In the context of assisting the referee, he may be advised on moves and positioning, and not only technical decisions, and the referee can request assistance in any decision from his assistants through the headphones.
Here we must establish a rule, which is that the decision is not to count a penalty kick, an expulsion, or an offense to the last of these decisions; Rather, the decision may be not to count a violation in many cases, and the best judgment is the one who is good at making decisions in both cases.
As for the video assistant referee (the mouse), only the referee of the arena is authorized to talk to him, except for difficult and delicate offside cases, in which the assistant referee is allowed to talk with the mouse and vice versa.
There are instructions in these cases for the assistant referee to say in English 3 times “delay delay delay”; That is, he will delay in making the decision to sneak in, indicating to the mouse that the situation is difficult and needs to be reviewed through the screens.
Also, the mouse assistant (there is a mouse referee with two assistants) does not talk to the referee of the arena; Except in the event that the ruling fugitive president is preoccupied with reviewing an arbitral case.
In cases that need scrutiny, the referee must explain the decision to the mouse referee, so that he knows what the referee sees on the field, and based on it watching the situation through the screens in the room, while the mouse referee must remind the referee of the arena of considerations according to each case.
And it is possible that the mouse referee’s guidance to the referee of the arena through the speakers in an indirect way, when calculating a wrong decision that can affect the outcome of the match (for example, a goal kick was awarded a corner kick), the mouse referee says to the referee of the arena “focus” indicating that the decision It is not correct until he understands the referee, and it is usually agreed between the referee and his assistants and the mouse on some symbolic words, which refer to a specific alert that the referee understands directly.