'First step' for new referees

Monday, 5 February 2007
by Simon Hart
from Rome

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UEFA's new international referees were promised the full support of European football's governing body as they began their three-day course in Rome today.

'UEFA is behind you'
Addressing the 37 match officials gathered for the 16th UEFA Introductory Course for International Referees, UEFA vice-president Angel María Villar Llona said: "UEFA is behind you to support you in all your work." Villar Llona, speaking on behalf of the Executive Committee, underlined UEFA's commitment to "promoting the best refereeing in Europe" and told the newcomers: "We know you're doing a great job and we know how important refereeing is for football."

Fitness test
"The first step at international level" was how UEFA Referees Committee chairman Volker Roth described this 16th Introductory Course. The referees, whose ages range from 26 to 39, were all added to the FIFA list of international referees on 1 January this year, having been recommended by their own national associations. The key activity today was the fitness test, which took place at the Stadio Olimpico. The referees became the first to take the new FIFA fitness test on a UEFA course as until this year the European governing body had used the Cooper test to assess the physical condition of its referees.

Two parts
According to Professor Werner Helsen, a member of the UEFA Referee Instructor Panel, it is designed to examine the capacity for both "changes in speed of activity" and also "high-intensity runs". The two-part test began with sprints, with the referees asked to run six 40m sprints under 6.20 seconds. Next was the interval test, comprising 20 150m tempo runs, each within a 30-second limit. Between the runs, which combined to make ten full laps of the stadium, was a 35-second recovery walk of 50m.

Helsen 'happy'
Of the 35 referees who did the test, all were successful in the sprints while 32 passed the interval test. Prof Helsen said he would offer each referee training advice based on his results here. "We should be happy because it was the first time the new FIFA fitness tests were implemented in a UEFA course," he added. "These were 35 new international referees and in terms of the sprints all the results were great and also with the interval test we should be quite happy overall."

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