Top football referees do not appear unusual: beards have no career opportunity, tattoos are questionable

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Do you also watch a lot of football matches? Then try to remember a referee who had a beard. Or even worse, showing off tattoos? Doesn’t anyone come to mind? Jackpot! There are practically none! A study published a year ago in four top leagues (Ligue 1, Serie A, Premier League and La Liga) found that of the 109 referees surveyed, one had a small tattoo hidden behind his watch and one had a small one on the wrist. edge of his sleeve. That’s all!

Busacca: ‘There are no FIFA instructions’

Everyone is well shaven. And arms, legs and neck are photo-free. “Everything is very uniform in the refereeing world,” confirms former top referee Urs Meier. “But there are no instructions, no regulations from FIFA,” explains Massimo Busacca. The former top referee from Ticino is director of the referee division at the World Football Association. But he also states: “In my twelve years at FIFA, I have hardly come across a referee with a beard or tattoos in our part of the world. However, in the Gulf region the majority have beards.” But not at a World Cup! Qatari Abdulrahman al-Jassim and Emirati man Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed appeared in Qatar with clean shaven heads.

The English advise you to whistle without a beard

I’m crazy already. More than a third of professional football players have tattoos. And even more show a Lenin, goat or Salafist beard. But the referees? Do not go! The ‘Sun’ showed that a big shot at the English Football Association (FA) gave young referees the ultimate tip to whistle without a beard. Otherwise you have no chance of being among the elite.

“Anomalies provide points of attack,” says Meier. “Externally, but also internally. That can quickly be a disadvantage, because there are people in associations who are behind the times. I also only started wearing my hair a little longer after I stopped refereeing.” At the 2000 European Championships, Meier allowed himself a bit of teasing – and sported a light goatee. “Well, that was towards the end of my career…”

The tattooed Clattenburg refereed the European Championship final in long sleeves

The best-known case of, shall we say, anomalies is that of Mark Clattenburg, the English referee who was considered number one in Europe seven or eight years ago. The tattoo friend had the Olympic rings engraved in memory of the Olympic final, which he was allowed to lead in 2012. And shortly before the European Championships he also got a tattoo with the Champions League trophy as a reminder of the final he had just refereed.

This was a thorn in the side of the English Football Association, which described tattoos on the arms of referees as “not serious”. The FA has not nominated Clattenburg for the European Championship. But they did the math without then UEFA referee Pierluigi Collina. Because he liked Clattenburg’s way of refereeing, the Italian added the Brit to the list. Collina, who has had two tattoos herself, was right. Clattenburg de-escalated by whistling with long sleeves throughout the tournament. Despite midsummer. And that until the final! Clatt’s reward: another tattoo, this time with the European Championship trophy…

Top referee Wermelinger is deeply relaxed

And in Switzerland? Top referee Dani Wermelinger is completely pragmatic: “It is better for someone to whistle well with a tattoo or beard than to whistle poorly without one. The only thing that is decisive is the performance on the field.” For Wermelinger it is self-evident that you can lead matches with a beard, long hair or tattoos.

Apparently still not for everyone.

Source : Blick