equipping referees with a microphone, an idea that is gaining ground

Will we soon be able to listen to conversations on the football fields? The sound system for referees during matches is increasingly mentioned and after video assistance to refereeing (the famous VAR), it would be a new technological upheaval. And even if the international bodies want to take their time, the revolution is underway. The French referees are clearly in favor of it, like their leaders. “We are all for the use of this sound. The French Football Federation would go in the direction of history”, militates Laurent Duhamel, former referee now in charge of the professional sector at the Technical Directorate of Refereeing.

“We wouldn’t put ourselves in too much difficulty”

About ten years ago, a sound experiment for television took place during a famous Marseille-Bordeaux. The man in black was called Stéphane Lannoy, today one of the bosses of French arbitration. Last weekend, he scrutinized the 10 Ligue 1 matches and sees only advantages in sounding his teams: “At no time does a referee address a player badly. would not get into too much difficulty by constantly opening the microphones, “he said.

“That the referees advocate transparency, it shows that they are always in good faith. It is therefore good news”, abounds Jean-Michel Aulas, the president of Olympique Lyonnais often grappling with refereeing decisions. “The microphones are a way to raise respect on the ground,” assures him Arsene Wenger, director of development of Fifa. Things could therefore accelerate before the World Cup in Qatar, next year, when the agreement of Ifab (the world body for arbitration) and Fifa is necessary.