Referees must enlarge their experience outside their own country and continent

It is a Saturday morning on a hot summer day. An eerie atmosphere surrounds the National Stadium area at Ta' Qali. Silence all around except for the chirping of sparrows in direct contrast with the noise of the bubbling crowds on the big match days.

One door at the Centenary Stadium is ajar as I tip-toe in a crowded hall where some 40 Maltese referees and match inspectors are listening intently to UEFA lecturer Ken Ridden in a seminar organised by the Malta FA.

This is the sixth time Ridden has conducted similar seminars during the past 20 years. Watching video clips taken during various international matches brought to the fore how difficult it is at times for the referee to make split second decisions on arguably very dubious tackles and other infringements especially when it comes to defence vs forwards in the penalty area.

Taking advantage of the coffee break, Tom A. Restall and Louis Micallef introduced me to Ridden for the planned short interview.

"Referees' decisions depend on personal judgment. Thanks to such seminars we can bring about uniformity and have more consistent approaches."

Ridden agrees with me that professional referees do not make better referees except when one's occupation leaves him with little time for training.

"It all boils down to judgment ability," he said.

Asked to give an overview of the recent World Cup finals regarding standards of refereeing, Ridden opines that it was not much different from the 1998 finals in France.

"There were some good and some disappointing performances, probably more disappointing this time as referees were, many times, let down by their assistants."

The UEFA lecturer said some of the mistakes were fatal as was the case with Spain and Italy.

"So isn't it about time some amendments were made to the offside rule, especially so as assistant referees are not endowed with fish eyes to watch the kicker and the forward at the same time?" I ask.

Ridden explains that in his 18 years on the International Board, nobody ever came up with a solution.

"Were the offside rule to be abolished, then the game will be dramatically changed and football would become more of "Football Tennis" with defenders booting the ball up into the opposing penalty area from one end to the other," he said.

"Our next urgent step is to organise more specialised seminars for assistant referees in terms of technique and better positioning. Then comes education and development by selecting a more sensitive group and make them enlarge their experiences by officiating in big nations like Italy and Spain and also outside their continent so when the World Cup finals arrive, they would have had the necessary schooling. But the bottom line remains, quality."

"How do you see the future of international refereeing?"

"The idea now is for a specialised group of referees and their assistants to travel together and officiate in between World Cup finals in different parts of the world so as to familiarise themselves with say, South American, African or Asian football," Ridden said.

"This will offer a much wider view of the game and the atmosphere it is played worldwide so that referees will have the much needed experience when handling teams from countries other than those from the continent they come from.

"Again, it is difficult for officials coming from small countries, including Malta, to handle needle matches played in totally different surroundings in front of huge crowds thronging stadia in their thousands in electrifying atmosphere. So now UEFA are introducing promising officials from small countries to gain invaluable experience by travelling with established referees and officiating with them in the Champions League or the UEFA Cup."