The final assessment could not have been more positive. Dr. Theo Zwanziger, Werner Hackmann and Volker Roth agreed whole-heartedly on the performances of the top German referees during the first half of the 2006/2007 Bundesliga season. The DFB President, the League President and the Chairman of the Referee's Commission conformed that the 19 men refereeing the Bundesliga games so far have graded an A+.
"We truly have some really good referees here in Germany", said DFB President Dr. Theo Zwanziger in Mainz, where the country's refereeing elite had assembled. League President Werner Hackmann added: "The quality of referees has even improved over these last few years." And Volker Roth summarised: "I'm more than satisfied with the performances during the first leg."
The three-day meeting, that is customarily held before the start of the 2nd leg of the Bundesliga season, took place in Mainz, with all 19 refs of the Bundesliga and all 19 officials of the 2nd Bundesliga participating. Performance testing, practice sessions, video analysis, group work and continuing education were some of the topics on the agenda.
Eugen Strigel, in charge of the referees development and schooling, had prepared 34 video sequences, featuring debatable offside and penalty calls and controversial elbowing incidents. All referees passed the new FIFA physicals held in a gym.
"For the future, I'd like to see more respect between players and coaches, club management and referees. Maybe regular talks could help here. Obviously, we'd also advice everybody involved to communicate directly, instead of through the media", said Werner Hackmann, the President of the German Football League (DFL). Zwanziger and Hackmann both openly thought about instituting assistant referees, positioned behind each goal, in order to have a closer scrutiny of the action inside the penalty box. Obviously, that would be a decision to be made by FIFA's international board.
On the amateur level, the number of referees has increased, with now more than 81,000 referees in Germany. "That is a new record", said Strigel. "We can feel a ripple effect from the 2006 FIFA World Cup."
As games become more intense during the 2nd half of the season, the referees face a more challenging task as well. "If we can equal the performance of these last few months, we can be very happy", said Volker Roth.
created by mm/kk
[bild1]
The final assessment could not have been more positive. Dr. Theo Zwanziger, Werner Hackmann and Volker Roth agreed whole-heartedly on the performances of the top German referees during the first half of the 2006/2007 Bundesliga season. The DFB President, the League President and the Chairman of the Referee's Commission conformed that the 19 men refereeing the Bundesliga games so far have graded an A+.
"We truly have some really good referees here in Germany", said DFB President Dr. Theo Zwanziger in Mainz, where the country's refereeing elite had assembled. League President Werner Hackmann added: "The quality of referees has even improved over these last few years." And Volker Roth summarised: "I'm more than satisfied with the performances during the first leg."
The three-day meeting, that is customarily held before the start of the 2nd leg of the Bundesliga season, took place in Mainz, with all 19 refs of the Bundesliga and all 19 officials of the 2nd Bundesliga participating. Performance testing, practice sessions, video analysis, group work and continuing education were some of the topics on the agenda.
Eugen Strigel, in charge of the referees development and schooling, had prepared 34 video sequences, featuring debatable offside and penalty calls and controversial elbowing incidents. All referees passed the new FIFA physicals held in a gym.
[bild2]
"For the future, I'd like to see more respect between players and coaches, club management and referees. Maybe regular talks could help here. Obviously, we'd also advice everybody involved to communicate directly, instead of through the media", said Werner Hackmann, the President of the German Football League (DFL). Zwanziger and Hackmann both openly thought about instituting assistant referees, positioned behind each goal, in order to have a closer scrutiny of the action inside the penalty box. Obviously, that would be a decision to be made by FIFA's international board.
On the amateur level, the number of referees has increased, with now more than 81,000 referees in Germany. "That is a new record", said Strigel. "We can feel a ripple effect from the 2006 FIFA World Cup."
As games become more intense during the 2nd half of the season, the referees face a more challenging task as well. "If we can equal the performance of these last few months, we can be very happy", said Volker Roth.
