Stadium referees are required to avoid psychological pressure before the start of the league

Former international football referee Abdullah Al Ajil gave seven pieces of advice to the field referees who will manage the matches of the ADNOC Professional League for the new season 2024-2025, which will start the day after tomorrow, with the participation of 14 clubs. The most prominent of these tips are: good knowledge of the arbitration law and the new amendments that have been introduced in this regard, avoiding any exaggerated psychological pressure, good focus and keenness to bring out the match in the best possible way, and the referee must prepare himself well psychologically before any match he manages, as well as prepare his assistant staff and work to give him confidence, which helps him excel in managing matches as a single team, in addition to the importance of the referee and his assistants knowing the two competing teams, and what each of them wants from the match, in addition to speeding up the game and working to increase the actual time of the match.

He pointed out that his advice to the video assistant referee (VAR) is that he should not call the referee in controversial cases, but should call him in clear cases, so that the referee can make a quick and correct decision when he sees the refereeing situation.

“The new edition of the league will be different in terms of the technical level of the participating teams, given the presence of seven foreign players on the field, in addition to a number of distinguished players recently obtaining Emirati citizenship, which increases the strength of the competition. Therefore, good physical fitness and the referee’s experience will play a major role in the referee’s success during the management of the match assigned to him,” Abdullah Al-Ajil told Al-Emarat Al-Youm.

On the other hand, Abdullah Al-Ajil called on the referees committee in the Football Association to develop a plan for referees qualified to be present in the World Cup or major football tournaments, stressing the need to assign them summit matches or big matches, especially those in which there is psychological pressure and a large audience presence, because these matches qualify the referee more strongly to manage big matches in foreign tournaments.

The Football Association’s Referees Committee prepared, during an external camp in Turkey, 91 field referees and assistant referees to manage the competitions for the new season 2024-2025, with 55 field referees and assistant referees (including eight female referees) to manage the President’s Cup, ADNOC Professional League and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup competitions, while 36 field referees and assistant referees will manage the First Division League and the Under-23 Professional League.

The Seven Tips

1- Good knowledge of the arbitration law and the new amendments that have been introduced.

2- Avoid any excessive psychological pressure.

3- Good focus and keenness to make the match come out in the best possible way.

4- Psychological preparation of the referee and his assistant staff.

5- The referee and his assistants should know the circumstances of the two competing teams and what each of them wants from the match.

6- Speed ​​up the game and work on increasing the actual time of the match.

7- The video referee does not call the field referee in controversial cases, and he must be called in clear cases.