Europe�s futsal referees have taken their latest step on the road to UEFA Futsal Euro 2018 with a preparation workshop in the host country Slovenia. Some thirty referees came to Ljubljana for three days of fitness assessments, practical and theoretical training. UEFA will now select 18 of them � 16 referees and two reserves � as the team of match officials for the tournament at the Arena Sto�ice in the Slovenian capital from 30 January to 10 February next year.
�We have brought the referees together to give them instructions on uniform consistency in decision-making, and to test their fitness,� said UEFA futsal refereeing instructor Pedro Gal�n Nieto. �They have taken the FIFA test, and must pass it to be eligible for the Euro.� The training sessions in Slovenia concentrated on the various strengths need by futsal referees to take charge of matches at the highest level. �We looked at speed and agility,� Gal�n Nieto explained, �because the way that futsal is played requires these two attributes from a referee. You need speed to keep up with play, and agility because you have to change direction a lot of times. The fitness aspect is crucial. Futsal teams at elite level train regularly � so the referees have to be able to match this fitness. We are encouraging UEFA�s national associations to create fitness programmes for their futsal referees.� Referees� preparation for the Euro will also include studying team tactics and player characteristics � an element that UEFA considers crucial in helping referees get ready for their assignments. �It�s essential � if you can anticipate and understand, this will help you run the game and take decisions,� said Gal�n Nieto. A key instruction given to the referees who will go to the Euro is to safeguard futsal�s image. �We are asking the referees to protect the players,� said Gal�n Nieto, �because in doing so, we are protecting the game.� Futsal uses the two-referee system, and teamwork between the match officials is seen as vitally important. �To achieve consistency, futsal referees need to be able to communicate, to be able to align themselves when taking decisions,� Gal�n Nieto reflected.
UEFA has recently taken a series of strategy decisions to enhance futsal�s profile � these include the Futsal Euro moving to 16 teams and taking place every four years from 2022, a new Women�s Futsal Euro from 2019, the renaming of the main European club competition as the UEFA Futsal Champions League from 2018/19, and the introduction of a European Under-19 championship in 2019. �These are exciting times for everyone in futsal,� said Gal�n Nieto. �The UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is a futsal man, he supports our sport, and the new strategy will hopefully help us to recruit more referees to futsal � especially women. The new competitions in particular will provide an incentive for people to become futsal referees�.
Source: UEFA
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