George Cumming: "Let’s stop cheating"

Are footballers better today than in the past? It is a question that sparks heated debate between young and old wherever you are in the world. One thing, though, is for sure – referees are getting better. And they have the results to prove it.

After overseeing a seminar last week in Seoul, Korea of the world’s top 72 referees and assistant referees who will feature in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™, George Cumming, Director of FIFA’s Development Division, spoke exclusively to FIFAworldcup.com and blew the whistle on the improvements made by modern day referees.

FIFAworldcup.com: What’s new for this World Cup ?

George Cumming: It’s not really new, but we’re going to focus especially on the problem of simulating - cheating and diving - which is becoming more and more of a problem in modern football. It used to be that the main area for diving was the penalty area, but, in fact, it’s no longer just the penalty area.

If you have a specialist free kick taker in your team, as most teams do, a free kick at 20 metres is a very good opportunity to score. So teams are keen to get free kicks anywhere near the box. Players dive just to have such an opportunity and that’s why we want to avoid it. We are saying to them: “If it’s diving, if it’s simulating, it’s a yellow card.” Simulation is unsporting behaviour and must be sanctioned with a yellow card.

Players also feign injuries?
Yes, although injury simulation is much more difficult to detect. A referee is not a doctor, he cannot say if the player is badly injured or not. But for diving, the referees are in a better position. Let’s stop cheating.

What were the coaches views during the Workshop in Tokyo?
The coaches were very interested. I showed them a video on diving and a number of coaches came to me after the presentation and asked if they could have a copy of it. We will make this video available for them, to educate the players. They also wanted information on the offside Law, as they were not totally sure of the concept of passive offside. So we will also provide a training video showing the difference between active and passive offside.

What do you expect from the referees at a FIFA World Cup?
We want referees to show strength but be sympathetic too. They must take into account that football is a passionate game. A referee cannot ignore violence, but above all, he must have a sense of the match. For example, we don’t want the technical area to become a conflict zone. These are our instructions - a referee must be strong and courageous when necessary but he must also have a feeling for the game. In our Seminar we used the German word ‘Fingerspitzengefühl’.

How did you organise the referees stay for the coming FIFA World Cup?
During the World Cup, there will be 36 referees and 36 assistant referees. They will be split 36 in Korea, and 36 in Japan (18 of each). They come from all confederations and have been selected on their performances in the qualifying games. These are the best referees in the world. They will be based in the headquarters in Seoul and Tokyo and from there will travel to matches.

How do you choose the referees for such an event?
The referees who have been selected have been involved in the top matches in their confederations and their performances have been highly rated over a period. They are very much looking forward to the competition. This is the pinnacle of their career. You just can’t get any higher than the World Cup. It is the same for players, and some fantastic players never played in the World Cup because their country never qualified.

It’s up to FIFA to support the referees and to make sure that they are in the best condition to do their job to the maximum. We have a very good team of referees, the fittest referees ever in a World Cup. I’m confident they will do a good job, but it’s a big challenge.

The best referees of each confederation are selected and brought together. Not only have they been selected on the basis of their performances in the qualification matches, but many have the experience of being involved in previous FIFA competitions. For example, Carlos Eugenio Simon from Brazil and Lubos Michel from Slovakia, were both involved in the Olympic Games and two years later, they have been appointed to the FIFA World Cup. It’s a case of FIFA continuity.

For others like Gamal El Ghandour from Egypt, Pierluigi Collina from Italy, Hugh Dallas from Scotland it is their second World Cup while this is the third World Cup for Ali Bujsaim from the United Arab Emirates.

What physical tests do referees have to undergo ?
The referees underwent the FIFA Fitness Test at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul. They started with a 12-minute run. Followed by a 50-metre sprint, then 200 metres, another 50 metres and another 200 metres to finish. For the assistant referees, there are three elements: a 12-minute run and two-50 metre sprints. For the 12-minute run, the minimum distance to be covered was 2700 metres but most referees covered more than 3000 metres. The maximum time was 7.5 seconds for the 50 metres and 32 seconds for the 200. The performances were excellent, we have a group of athletes here. On the pitch, referees run more or less 12 kilometres. They run more than players!

But what is the criteria for assessing whether a referee is good or not?
You can tell a referee is good in many ways: the way he deals with players; his feeling for the game; his control of the game, which is very important; the accuracy of his decisions - obviously another important criteria. These are the technical aspects that observers can identify and say “Yes, he is a good referee”.

How do you decide which matches referees are assigned to?
Logistically, you have 48 matches in the first round so every referee will be appointed to at least one match. Before the competition - probably between the 25th and 26th of May - The FIFA Referees’ Committee will announce the first 36 appointments.

Later referees and assistants will be appointed for matches 37 to 48, based on their performances in the first match. The last 12 matches will be announced around the 8th or 9th of June because, logistically again, the officials have to travel to the stadiums and have to be fully prepared.

It must be confusing sometimes with the problem of nationalities …?
We must be very careful with nationalities. Of course, you will never have a match involving Brazil being refereed by a Brazilian or a Brazilian assistant. Also, we have to think about the situation in the groups. For example, you’ll never have a Costa Rican referee for China Vs Turkey, because Costa Rica are in the same Group.

It’s a very complex situation to make sure that you have officials who are seen to be totally neutral - that’s the starting point. FIFA also tries to have the referee and the assistant referee from the same country where possible or appoint referees and assistants who have worked together already. For the last 12 matches, however, we will appoint referees who we believe will be correct for these difficult games.