Roberto Rosetti: We try to reach our goals with those referees who are available

Former Italian referee Roberto Rosetti who is currently head of the Refereeing and Inspection Department of the Russian Football Union (RFS) told about the innovations he had introduced during the period of an operating time in Russia.

«What differences have you managed to find already between the Russian and the Italian refereeing systems?»

«I have arrived to Russia four months ago and since then I’ve been working for 15 hours a day on the average, studying and analyzing the Russian refereeing staff. It’s my priority task. We need to improve many aspects of work and we work hard on it, observing, however, the regulations of UEFA and FIFA. I wouldn’t say there exist some ‘Rosetti regulations’, as I am guided by the UEFA and FIFA regulations.»

«One of the first novelties you have introduced after taking charge of your department was to renunce the system of referees appointment by means of computer. Now you appoint judges to the games by yourself. What made you take this step?»

«Everything is very simple: I have a feeling similar to what a coach feels. If you have somebody who is in a good shape, healthy, makes correct decisions, and doesn’t make mistakes in the field, he should be appointed to the next matches. If you work well, you get appointed often. If you word poorly, you work seldom.»

«Are there enough quality referees in Russia to reach the goals you’ve set?»

«Today our main goal is to guarantee the purity of refereeing in the Premier League and we try to reach it with the referees available. The most unbiased evaluation of a referee’s work is always made by a single judge – the football field. If you work good, you referee a lot. If otherwise, you shouldn’t hope to be appointed to a game. It’s a meritocracy approach, also applied by the UEFA. You can analyze their appointments and you will see that the best referees work most,» Rosetti said to Sports Daily.