Referees chief Howard Webb has held talks with former players over becoming part of a next generation of referees – with up to 12 elite level footballers expressing an interest.
The group of professionals – either current players approaching the end of their careers or recently retired – have spoken to Webb, chief refereeing officer at the Professional Games Match Officials Ltd. They have come forward since Webb announced soon after returning to English football from America he wanted to encourage former professional players to take up officiating.
In another potential shake-up, football’s lawmakers will launch a crackdown on dissent that will see only team captains allowed to speak to referees about their decisions. The International Football Association Board (Ifab) is set to approve a global trial of the rugby-style measure at its annual business meeting in London, which could allow the Premier League to introduce it as early as next year.
Tuesday’s meeting will also see further discussions about the use of sin bins in the game – they are already in place in grassroots and youth competitions in England – although they are unlikely to be approved for trials in professional football in the coming year.
Allowing only captains to speak to referees about their decisions and rolling out 10-minute sin bins for dissent would see football adopt an approach to managing player behaviour that has long been used in rugby union.
Crackdown on dissent
The issue has become a priority for Ifab amid fears match officials are being driven out of the game by verbal and physical abuse.
Tuesday’s crackdown on dissent comes a week after Webb underlined directives to penalise it in the Premier League, beginning with a renewed focus on players waving imaginary cards.
As former players weigh up their next career moves, Howard’s focus is on efforts to identify future top referees. The PGMOL has launched a Development Group for officials under the Elite Development Referee Plan, which already includes 42 officials. An initial cohort of 28 enjoyed over 250 opportunities at higher levels during the 2022/23 season.
Half of those now primarily operate at a higher level, including Akil Howson, Sam Allison, Rebecca Welch, Farai Hallam and Emily Heaslip.
Webb, who refereed the 2010 World Cup final, has been pledging for months to broaden the number of referees, including trying to attract more female officials and others from diverse backgrounds. He said last year the professional ranks are an untapped source and believes some players could find refereeing attractive as an alternative career path.
“We need to look at how we can entice people in,” Webb has previously said. “We’ve always struggled to get ex-players involved. But I am sure somebody out there will want to be a trailblazer.”
Trying to make Var work
The PGMOL is also exploring long-term innovations to reduce Var controversies. One development which Webb has an eye on includes extra cameras positioned along the touchline, which are subject to non-live trials in Major League Soccer. Such technology would have been useful for officials amid a row over whether the ball was out of play prior to Anthony Gordon’s strike in the 64th minute of Newcastle’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal earlier this month.
The Premier League is at a more advanced stage experimenting with different systems of semi-automated offside technology. Limb-tracking technology to automatically detect when players are offside is likely to be in place by the start of next season.
Tuesday’s Ifab meeting is also expected to all-but approve a change to the law relating to players handling the ball on the goal-line. The offence is currently punishable by a mandatory red card, as well as a penalty, regardless of intent. A change is expected to be agreed for rubber-stamping at next year’s annual general meeting that would see such handballs deemed to be non-deliberate punished with only a booking.
That would differentiate between the kind of offence that saw Luis Suarez sent off for punching the ball over the crossbar during the 2010 World Cup and that for which Reece James saw red when he blocked a shot with his leg on the goal-line and it rebounded onto his arm in a Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea two years ago.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport earlier this month, Ifab has begun a series of consultations over what changes should be made ahead of the first serious review of Var since its introduction seven years ago. While no proposed changes will be put forward for trials on Tuesday, it is understood a discussion may take place around extending Var to cover free kicks, corners and second yellow cards.