The designator at the market closing meeting: “The referees who talk after the games? When we’re ready. We have to speed up the intervention times, people can’t wait a minute and a half for a decision
31 January – FIUMICINO (ROME)
Reducing decision times at the VAR, drying up internal communication and managing automatic offside in the best possible way. These are the three guidelines that Gianluca Rocchi, our referee designator, spoke about at Fiumicino, in a meeting entirely dedicated to the referee figure.
IN TEMPI PART VAR
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Speaking in the Roman appointment dedicated to the closing of the transfer market, organized by Lions H Corporate at the Hilton Airport in Fiumicino, Rocchi started right from the Var: “And the dream I had for a life as a referee, because before I saw the mistakes at 95′ while now they can be repaired on the run. And young umpires today don’t realize how lucky they are with technology, because they haven’t hit their heads like I did. Now the goal is to reduce review times, because people want to watch the game, not wait a minute and a half for a decision. The Var needs speed, but above all accuracy. A good varist player finds the solution in 5-10 seconds, those with less experience need about thirty. That’s why we place good Avar alongside some, so we have avoided an avalanche of mistakes, because the anxiety of deciding quickly sometimes blocks you”. This is also why we are increasingly moving towards the specialization of video match officials: “Today we have ten of them, all former referees or former assistants but now out of role. But I’d like to get to 20-25, to completely cover Serie A and B. Refereeing is talent, instead you have to study at the Var. But even their growth comes from mistakes, because when you burn yourself then you’re never wrong again. The best? Aleandro Di Paolo, so much so that we named him international”.
THE COMUNICATION
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Having said that to have direct post-match communication there will still be a wait (“It would also depend on the questions, we would like to explain the reason for the errors but there is also another aspect: until the decisions of the sports judge, the referees cannot speak. But I’d like to have our own space in which to explain the effects of controversial decisions”), what the refereeing world is working on is internal communication: “Here we have to dry it as much as possible, especially on the part of the referee, to avoid influencing the Var when under pressure. Otherwise the risk is to get confused or not to decide, especially if the Var is young and the referee is experienced. Do you listen to the referee-Var talks to explain? It is a very topical subject, with Fifa which will experiment in this sense at the next Club World Cup. We must first get the kids used to working on clean communication, usable for the listener. When we are ready we will leave. Even in error I must be able to explain why he was wrong. But one thing is certain: sometimes decisions are made with superficiality or incompetence, but never in bad faith”.
SEMIAUTOMATIC OFFSIDE
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Finally, the latest innovation in the world of refereeing, inaugurated in the last Italian Super Cup: the automatic offside. “A fabulous tool, over time it will also reduce our waiting times. Today the referee only has to check that what the machine decides is correct. However, he won’t solve the offside problem 100%, because there is always an objective assessment on the objective situation. The case of Milan-Sassuolo comes to mind (Rebic’s goal disallowed, ed), with the touch of the Sassuolo player which is a deviation and not a play. However, the machine now also solves the problem of 10-15 centimeters offside. What changes compared to the Var? Simply that before the lines were drawn by the varist, now by the machine. And as always, we trust machines more than people”.
January 31, 2023 (change January 31, 2023 | 14:29)
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