Refereeing needs reform, says FIFA's Zen-Ruffinen
ROME, June 21 (AFP) - Linesmen at the World Cup were showing signs of stage-fright and their mistakes showed the need for reform of the system, outgoing FIFA secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen said in an interview with Italy's Gazetta dello Sport Friday.
Zen-Ruffinen, the tournament's chief organiser, said the number of controversially disallowed goals also perhaps pointed up the need for a change in the offside rule.
"Maybe we need to change the offside rule," he said, indicating that a greater distance could be allowed between the last defender and the attacker to make it easier on linesmen. At present, a player is onside when he is level with the last defender.
"I'm very disappointed with the linesmen. We've gone back 12 years, to Italia '90 when referees did this job sufficiently well. With professional linesmen we think we had solved the problem of the World Cup, but we were wrong," he told the Italian sports daily.
The linesmen in this World Cup "are scared and don't have enough personality", said Zen-Ruffinen.
"The linesman in a national championship is a low profile figure, but on the huge international stage every one of his errors is seen and judged by an immense audience."
He said FIFA "will have to invest a lot of money to really globalize refereeing and improve it, uniformly."
Zen-Ruffinen, a former referee himself, said seminars for Third World referees should be intensified and made more practical, not just theoretical, and that referees from one nation could officiate in another's national league, to broaden experience.
"Like players and managers, referees could also emigrate, even temporarily."
Federations, particularly from minor footballing powers, should commit to sending a number of referees abroad every year to officiate in other leagues.
ROME, June 21 (AFP) - Linesmen at the World Cup were showing signs of stage-fright and their mistakes showed the need for reform of the system, outgoing FIFA secretary general Michel Zen-Ruffinen said in an interview with Italy's Gazetta dello Sport Friday.
Zen-Ruffinen, the tournament's chief organiser, said the number of controversially disallowed goals also perhaps pointed up the need for a change in the offside rule.
"Maybe we need to change the offside rule," he said, indicating that a greater distance could be allowed between the last defender and the attacker to make it easier on linesmen. At present, a player is onside when he is level with the last defender.
"I'm very disappointed with the linesmen. We've gone back 12 years, to Italia '90 when referees did this job sufficiently well. With professional linesmen we think we had solved the problem of the World Cup, but we were wrong," he told the Italian sports daily.
The linesmen in this World Cup "are scared and don't have enough personality", said Zen-Ruffinen.
"The linesman in a national championship is a low profile figure, but on the huge international stage every one of his errors is seen and judged by an immense audience."
He said FIFA "will have to invest a lot of money to really globalize refereeing and improve it, uniformly."
Zen-Ruffinen, a former referee himself, said seminars for Third World referees should be intensified and made more practical, not just theoretical, and that referees from one nation could officiate in another's national league, to broaden experience.
"Like players and managers, referees could also emigrate, even temporarily."
Federations, particularly from minor footballing powers, should commit to sending a number of referees abroad every year to officiate in other leagues.
