Referees and match officials have a vital role in making sure that the matches of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup 2016 are a success.
The matches could not be played without their important and challenging function.
Local media representatives had the opportunity to attend a training session of the match officials on Friday which provided an insight into the daily training and preparation of the referees.
FIFA referees' department senior manager Kari Seitz explained that there’s a lot of work put into preparation for the matches.
Seitz highlighted that the match officials train almost two hours a day and their training focuses on fitness, including speed and agility, which is an important asset as a referee.
Exercise routines include quick counter attacks where they have to take the ball from one end of the field to the other to make decisions in the penalty area.
Seitz said there’s a lot of team work building and quick decision making.
Other drills include working on offside situations.
“The referees are filmed during training and we provide individual feedback immediately after to assess them.
“There’s a lot of coordinated effort to make sure that these referees are on top not only physically but mental preparations as well for the matches.
“We measure their speed, jumping ability, their ability to move from left to right quickly and put bench marks for them to improve over the course of the tournament,” Seitz said.
A total of 17 Women’s referees and 28 Women’s assistant referees from 34 different countries have been officiating at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Papua New Guinea 2016.