Ingrid Jonsson is the first female Women’s World Cup Final referee. In this interview with Dutch Referee Blog the Swedish referee and FIFA referee instructor talks about this experience and the development of female refereeing. “In the future I guess that many more female referees will be involved in men’s football and not because they are women but based on quality between referees.” First ever female in a women’s final In 1995, you were the first female referee to officiate a Women’s World Cup final. How was that for you? Ingrid Jonsson: “In the Women’s World Cup in China 1991 I was one of the six so-colled “lines women” (assistant…

Harish Karki is the youngest referee at the Nepalese national league. But that doesn’t mean he is there yet. He needs to work even harder. “I have to do much more better than before to achieve my goal”. And Nepal does not have the regular league system. “I train almost 3 weeks a month and 1 week I officiate matches.” Read the exclusive interview with an ambitious young referee and get some interesting insights in refereeing in Nepal.  22 years old and national referee Dear Harish Karki, please introduce yourself as referee. Harish Karki: First of all,  I wanna give a big thanks to Dutch Referee Blog  for this great…

Verbally abusing someone because of his race is not done, says Karin Blankenstein. “But homosexuals still have to cope with being abused.” As if that’s normal. Blankenstein fights for gay acceptance in sports in The Netherlands. I interviewed her during a meeting at The Hague’s Referee Association a few years ago. This issue is still very relevant these days. How is the situation for homosexuals in sports? Acceptance is difficult Karin Blankenstein is the founder of the John Blankenstein Foundation, called after her brother, a homosexual professional referee in football who died in 2006. The battle for gay acceptance in sports is difficult. She made an action plan to gain…

Refereeing at the Premier League every week is what drives Martin Atkinson. “The goal is to get the biggest games”, he says in an interview with Dutch Referee Blog. “So I have to keep my standards high.” To do so, he makes sure to be physically very fit. “During the summer break it’s important to do the base work. But make sure you’re not tired at the start of the season.” Atkinson gradually builds up his fitness and officiates maybe two to three friendlies. Not many more, “because you only have a pause of ten weeks”. Setting goals for the new season Before every season he always sets his goals.…

Preparing referees for a World Cup is a big task. And Nestor Pitana has the honour of refereeing the final between France and Croatia. How does he make sure to be ready? I got the chance to speak with Esfandiar Baharmast, present in Russia as a FIFA referee instructor. “I work with all the referees in their technical preparation as well as mentoring and debriefings”, he says. “Our job is to prepare the referees to the highest standards and make sure that they arrive in top physical and mental conditions.” In this interview you’ll get to know Esfandiar Baharmast, but will also get an insight in World Cup refereeing.  …

Bjorn Kuipers and his assistants worked very hard on their training session closely watched by the Dutch press. And by Hilco de Boer. In an interview with Dutch Referee Blog Hilco de Boer tells about the importance of physical training for referees. Hilco de Boer is the physical trainer of referees in the Dutch professional leagues. He guides and monitors their training sessions – whether they are at the KNVB or at home. Based on upcoming games he makes the training schedules for most of the referees. Dutch top referee Bjorn Kuipers will also receive schemes from Uefa. “All those training schedules are made based on the games that are…