What is it about?
Much is written in the media about referees and the decisions they make. This paper exams the relationship between player behaviour and referee performance in domestic leagues and European competition. Interviews have been conducted with elite referees and this paper explores the findings from these interviews.
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Why is it important?
The findings show that referees are changing preparation and performance in order to deal with changes in player behaviour and that aspects of national culture are influencing behaviour. This means that referees are officiating differently depending on the competition and also, at times, the teams and players involved.
Perspectives
This paper examines areas that have not previously been considered in elite refereeing or soccer more generally. The aim of both UEFA and FIFA is to standardise refereeing across national boundaries. However this research shows that historical and cultural values of both the individual referee and player and the country from which these referees and players originate, influences the behaviour, preparation and training of the elite referees. In essence referees are changing behaviour in order to deal with players more effectively, although this behaviour differs from competition not competition.
Dr Tom Webb
University of Portsmouth
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “He’s taken a dive”, Sport Business and Management An International Journal, July 2015, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/sbm-04-2014-0019.
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