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Goal-line technology and professional referees

The Copa America starts next month and Hawk-Eye will be used for the first time. , marking the first use of by the soccer’s The governing bodies for South America and for North and Central America and the Caribbean are using the tournament to trial the goal-line technology now successfully being used in the Premier League.

The 1six-nation tournament will be played at ten .SA grounds and begins on 3 June when the United States take on Comumbia at the Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the home of NFL side, the San Francisco 49ers since 2014.

DeAndre Yedlin is in the USA squad and Erik Lamela has been selected for the Argentina squad.

Organizers have announced the match officials and three of the 18 referees will be from the USA: Mark Geiger, Jair Marrufo and Armando Villarreal. 

Geiger officiated three games at the 2014 World Cup, including the second-round game between France and Nigeria in which he became the first American to referee a World Cup knockout-stage match. 

With a dearth of referees in this country perhaps the FA or the Premier League should be starting a refereeing program in the United States. There needs to be a larger pool of quality full-time referees and promoting it as a career option would seem a better way than trying to bring people in as volunteers on a Sunday morning.

Naturally they need experience at a lower level but there is no reason why referees can't be fast tracked with the right training and a scheme set up whereby the best American referees from the program are not brought over on a work placement with the lower leagues and eventually the Premier League. Once again it creates interest in an emerging market, it creates a news opportunity and a story for the media to follow. 

It gets the topic of refereeing into the spotlight, which should encourage others to take up the opportunity. IIt would be an ideal chance to get ex-professional footballers involved with the game. How many actually go on to become a referee? None that I can think of. They could also be used in an educational capacity, referees need to know the players point of view, not just the officials, it aids their decision making and understanding of the role.

There is a lot that could be done within the game but isn't. It can't be because of money because the Premier League is awash with it. Why don't the Premier League use just a tiny portion of that money and start a program? They'd be giving something back to the game.

The other referees are Joel Aguilar (El Salvador), Jose Argote (Venezuela), Julio Bascunan (Chile), Enrique Caceres(Paraguay), Victor Carrillo (Peru), Andres Cunha (Uruguay), Roberto Garcia (Mexico), Heber Lopes (Brazil), Patricio Loustau(Argentina), Yadel Martinez (Cuba), Ricardo Montero (Costa Rica), John Pitti (Panama), Wilmer Rodan (Colombia), Gery Vargas (Bolivia) and Roddy Zambrano (Ecuador).

3 comments

  1. Elliot surely you've never seen an MLS game or you would know that the standard of reffing is WAAAAAY below uk league 1 standard. There is also s massive shortage of refs in the us.

    Long term there is a possibility if the premiership fined the entire pyramid but that just seems fantastical. .. why not just fund channels for training more English refs? Plenty of people looking for work.
  2. Elliot surely you've never seen an MLS game or you would know that the standard of reffing is WAAAAAY below uk league 1 standard. There is also s massive shortage of refs in the us.

    Long term there is a possibility if the premiership fined the entire pyramid but that just seems fantastical. .. why not just fund channels for training more English refs? Plenty of people looking for work.
  3. Because its about expanding the game in upcoming markets and boosting the profile of the Premier League, not just recruiting refs.
    It isn't a short-term idea, no ref is going to instantly ne a top level ref and it is the role of major football leagues to help develop the game in other countries, or it should be if they know anything about marketing.

    The Premier League have a stack of money so using some of it to develop the Premier League brand while helping the development of officials is a step in the right direction. I am not one for being insular and only looking after oneself.