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Platini Wants Five Referees
UEFA president Michel Platini hopes that having five referees controlling the football matches will reduce penalty disagreements. Under Platini's trial, there would be two extra penalty area referees that would help resolve arguments, which are becoming common place in many European leagues. Recent incidents involving controversial penalty decisions have caught the attention of UEFA and ideas on how to tackle the problem will be discussed at an annual meeting on March 3.
U.S. Soccer Introduces Program to Employ Full-time Referees
The news release below was recently sent out to the sports media in the
United States to announce an exciting new program being established by
U.S. Soccer: the introduction of four full-time professional referees
to U.S. Soccer’s referee program.
As you can see in the release, the move is designed to enhance
high-level performance, training and development opportunities for the
sport’s elite officials in the United States. We believe this program
is a wonderful reflection on the entire U.S. Soccer referee program,
which has grown to 140,000 strong and is among the most respected
referee organizations in the world.
Complete bios and background information on Jair
Marrufo, Ricardo Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn is now
available at ussoccer.com. This in-depth coverage of these trailblazers
should give you an interesting insight into their new roles and their
background as officials.
There is no doubt that this new moves our program to an elite level in
the world of soccer. We are now one of only a handful of countries in
the world to employ full-time professional referees, a list that
includes select nations like England, France, Holland, Italy and Spain.
Our entire referee program will reap the benefits of this new program,
a program which you are an important part. Without the membership to
support our ever-growing initiatives, this type of growth would have
never been possible.
Thank you for your dedication to the sport and to your support of U.S.
Soccer.
For Immediate Release - Feb. 21, 2007
U.S. SOCCER INTRODUCES PROGRAM TO EMPLOY
FULL-TIME PROFESSIONAL REFEREES FOR FIRST TIME
Marrufo, Salazar, Toledo & Vaughn Will Work Professionally
Year Round for U.S. Soccer Officiating, Training & Developing;
U.S. Soccer Joins England, Holland & Other Select Countries
with Full-time Professional Referees
CHICAGO (February 21, 2007) – In a move designed to continue the growth
and progress of soccer officiating in the United States, U.S. Soccer
has established a program to employ full-time referees for the first
time in the organization's 95-year history. Jair Marrufo, Ricardo
Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn will become full-time
referees, enabling them to focus all of their professional abilities on
practical on-field applications, as well as on off-the-field training.
“This new program will give our best referees the opportunity to focus
all of their energies on enhancing the performance of our elite
officials on the field,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “The
size and quality of U.S. Soccer’s referee program has garnered
worldwide respect from the international soccer community over the
years. With an increasing number of MLS and international matches being
staged in the United States, there is no doubt that the opportunity to
referee on a full-time, professional basis will continue to advance our
growth as a soccer nation.”
The new program is designed to enhance high-level performance, training
and development opportunities for the sport’s elite officials in the
United States. The United States is now just one of only a handful of
countries with full-time professional referees (a list that includes
England, France, Holland, Italy and Spain).
"The implementation of this program and the hiring of these four
professional referees is an important first step," added Gulati.
"Moving forward, I expect this program to continue to grow alongside
the rest of the sport in the United States."
Complete bios and background information on Jair
Marrufo, Ricardo Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn is
available at ussoccer.com.
American referees are playing an increasing role in CONCACAF and
continue to get more and better appointments to work international
matches worldwide. In 2006, U.S. Soccer referees worked 126
international matches in the United States alone, as well as
officiating in numerous international tournaments outside of the
country. Additionally, 23 U.S. Soccer referees also worked 182 games in
Major League Soccer last year.
U.S. Soccer's Director of Advanced & International Referee
Development Esse Baharmast, who refereed in the 1998 FIFA World Cup,
will be heavily involved in the training aspects of the program and
recently served as the lead Referee Instructor at the 2006 FIFA World
Cup in Germany.
"This is a wonderful progression for our referee program," said
Baharmast. "We have made great strides as a soccer country through the
years and a program like this will allow the elite professionals in
this country to focus on the craft of being a referee.”
The four referees committed to the program are Jair Marrufo, Ricardo
Salazar, Baldomero Toledo and Terry Vaughn. Marrufo currently resides
in El Paso, Texas, and officiated the 2006 MLS Cup Final in Frisco,
Texas, last year. He recently became a FIFA-certified official for the
first time in 2007.
Salazar, who lives in Elgin, Ill., joined the ranks of U.S. Soccer
referees certified by FIFA in 2005 and has called numerous games at the
elite level through the years. Toledo became a FIFA referee in 2006
after registering with U.S. Soccer originally in 1989. He recently
called the championship of the 2007 Interliga in Carson, Calif.
An official at the 2006 CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal in Mexico,
Vaughn is entering his fourth year as a FIFA-certified official in
2007. The Mount Vernon, Iowa, resident is slated to officiate at the
Under-20 World Cup qualifiers in Mexico during the final week of
February.
U.S. Soccer Federation’s Referee Membership has grown tremendously over
the years and at the end of 2006 totaled more than 140,000 officials.
The Federation originally began to comprehensively train and develop a
large number of referees in the early 1970s, and courses are conducted
by qualified state referee instructors in a consistent manner
throughout the nation.
U.S. Soccer’s referee organization is one of the largest among the 207
nations belonging to FIFA, with officials calling games at every level
of the sport, including youth, amateur and professional games, as well
as sanctioned international competitions.
 Welcome from David Jones,
State Referee Administrator
Welcome to the California North Referee Administration Web site. We hope this site will provide information to the referees as to what is going on in their state. Electronic mail and Web sites have replaced the typewriter and many newsletters. Data is more up-to-date and can be published within a few days—even minutes—and may soon be instantaneous and interactive here. We hope you find this site informative and entertaining.
Registration
Why should a referee be current with their registration every year? You, as an official and independent contractor, owe it to the game and players to be current with the Laws of the Game. Your uniform should be professional with a current badge for the year you officiate. You should be protected with the liability insurance offered by the US Soccer Federation. It clearly states in the USSF by-laws that only licensed USSF referees shall be used by USSF-affiliated leagues. Affiliated leagues belong to CYSA-N and CSAN, the youth and amateur state organizations, respectively.
Where is my referee packet?
Some things change while others remain the same. I am referring to the turn around for the USSF when sending back the packets to the referees here in California North. We process & send everything certified & registered mail and for some unknown reason it still takes them months for them to process registrations.
With the new system adopted in 2003, forms are sent out with preprinted information and data on the referee in the upper right hand corner. Instructions say "Do Not Write In The Boxes If Your Data Is Correct". I receive a tremendous amount of the forms with the boxes filled in with the same preprinted data. Bad choice! When you do this, the scanner kicks out your form and it has to be entered by hand, later. Scribbling and writing outside the boxes causes rejection and the form has to be entered, later.
We all know there is no such thing as a free lunch and registrations are no different. Any forms sent without checks attached go back to the sender. Any checks without forms also go back. It is too hard to keep loose forms and checks in a person's home waiting on the other. Better it goes back to the owner than to sit on someone's dining table. So they go back and it delays your form being processed on time.
In signature section on the form it asks if the person on the form has ever been convicted of a crime or of fraud. If you mark "yes", be prepared to write a letter to attach to the form stating what you were charged with, where it happened and when it happened. You must give complete and accurate information, otherwise your form will come back from Chicago. Be advised that they will check your record.
Take a little time to read the instruction sheet before filling out the form and making mistakes that delay the delivery of your packet with your book, badge, and card. USSF has promised better service this year. Let's do what we need to on our end and keep our fingers crossed for a better 2005.
Each District has people who are in place to assist referees with recertifying and upgrading. That is the purpose for their position. Incomplete paperwork results in referees disappointed or upset because they did not follow the criteria needed to complete their requirements. This results in downgrading until the requirements are completed.
All contact information may be found in the Directory on this site.
We hope to cover as many issues as possible on this site. If you have suggestions, please submit them for consideration. Here's hoping your next game is the best of your life.
David Jones, State Referee Administrator |
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