Referees in the media (week 20-23)

‘Referees in the media’ will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading.

Sorry for the delay, guys. I’m going to marry later this month and it takes some time to arrange things. Will provide you with some interviews and blogs later on, also on a more regular basis. Here are some quotes of the last weeks for you. I hope you’ll enjoy.

“The referee has become someone who applies the rules. I rarely see real authorities, referees with charisma.”

Charles Corver, referee at the 1980 World Cup in Italy, dislikes Uefa’s decision that referees may not explain their decisions to the media. He also wishes that referee could give just a warning and not a yellow in sportive maches. Quotes in Dutch newspaper Trouw.

“I’m a very calm person, and a big match like Friday’s doesn’t affect me that much.”

Carlos Velasco Carballo before the opening match at Euro 2012, where he send of Greece player Sokratis Papastathopoulos after two unjustified yellow cards.

“It is crucial not only to have referees with a professional approach, but we must also have the right environment and create a professional structure. We have to protect and support the referees, and we have to prepare them.”

Said FIFA President Joseph Blatter.

“I have been involved in refereeing since I was 14 and this excellent news makes that commitment all the more worthwhile.”

Willie Collum becomes an Uefa Elite referee.

“The most surprising inclusion in the list after disappointing Chief Refereeing Officer Pierluigi Collina earlier this year when refusing a penalty in the Milan v Barcelona Champions League quarter-final and then defending his decision on TV. He is very ambitious and very confident.”

Former English top referee Graham Poll gives his verdict about the Euro 2012 referees. Read his opinion about the other referees here
. Got this thanks to ‘The Referee’, a worth following referee blog by John King.

Busacca new head of Fifa refereeing

Massimo Busacca has been appointed as new head of Fifa’s refereeing department. The Swiss referee, who will start at August 1st, has announced the end of his career as ‘men in black’ recently.

Fifa president Joseph Blatter is happy with his recruit: “As I have said on many occasions, I have made refereeing one of my main priorities. Massimo Busacca’s experience will prove to be particularly useful to our mission and to our efforts to continue the groundwork we have put in place with the confederations and member associations in this particularly important area.”

The question for many referees is: will this in the future bring much change into refereeing. According to German newspaper Der Tagesspiel, Busacca has said he is favouring a goal-line camera, something his fellow countryman Blatter never wanted to think about as a serious option for professional football.

UPDATE: Busacca has spoken about the use of video technology to SwissInfo: “I’m against it. We’ve talked about having fifth and sixth referees. I’m convinced that this is a good solution to better address the situation.”