PLAY THE ADVANTAGE

In addition to all the usual appointment news and fun stuff, we had a couple of big stories this week on Play the Advantage.

• The Wall Street Journal published an article about FIFA’s referee selection process and how it basically screwed at least one referee over, but I had a slightly different perspective…
• In what may be a regular feature, I took a look at two calls Phil Dowd made last weekend and asked: Red Card or Not?

Here are some other great articles about referees from other refereeing blogs and news sites across the web.

• The Third Team blog did a piece on why effective communication is important for referees.
• Refereeing World has a piece about a Dutch referee who got himself suspended for something so stupid I actually didn’t believe it was real.
• UEFA’s refereeing site, Training Ground, currently has an interesting feature video on Pedro Proenca on the front page. It’s an interesting look at not only Proenca himself, but what these referees go through to get where they are.
• Goal.com did a piece on Turkey’s Cuneyt Cakir in which they actually called him the “Nani Red Card Referee“. Because that’s all he’s ever done.
• Howard Webb spent time in Grimsby, encouraging young referees to follow in his footsteps, while former World Cup referee George Courtney handed out prizes to students at Houghby School.
• A blue plaque was unveiled to honour Mervyn Griffiths, the only Welsh referee to ever appear in a World Cup final.