Uefa sees shortage of referees and launches recruitment drive

UEFA launched this Wednesday (30) a referee recruitment campaign to tackle the shortage of refereeing professionals in Europe. According to a report organized by the entity, there are currently 40,424 referees missing to meet the demand of European football, which has 236,530 active referees on its staff. The amount needed to cover all matches is 276,954.

UEFA member associations have found it difficult to both recruit and retain young referees before they reach the highest level of the hierarchy, which can have a negative impact on the total number of professionals available for top divisions and tournaments.

“Without a referee we can’t play, they are an important pillar. We don’t have enough for every match. If the pyramid continues to decline, we will have a problem in a few years,” said Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s director of refereeing. “With the number of games increasing, we need around 277,000 referees in European football, but we are short of almost 40,000 referees to have enough to run the game at youth level. That’s why UEFA decided to invest in a program that supports national federations in recruiting and retaining young referees”, he added.

The entity thought of a series of initiatives to expand the staff. One of them is to invest in early training of referees, encouraging teenagers to develop careers in the area in educational centers. “That young people aged 13 to 18 become referees, it is a great opportunity for them to continue in the world of football, progress and reach important levels. We have to do something”, said Rosetti.

The launch of the campaign, entitled “be a referee (Be a referee)” was part of UEFA’s start-of-season acts, during an event in Monaco, where the Champions League group stage draw will also be held on Thursday (31).