Coaches and members of the technical staffs of all 24 national teams that have qualified for Euro 2024 gathered for a seminar in Düsseldorf on Monday to discuss a number of important issues about the upcoming tournament.
UEFA Refereeing Director Roberto Rosetti familiarised the audience with the directives and guidelines that will be distributed to referees ahead of the World Cup. Rosetti emphasised the need for referees to be treated with more respect.
"We have exactly the same job as you, we are also preparing to choose our team," Rosetti told the coaches. - "We choose our team where the best will get in, there are no other conditions.
"The unacceptable behaviour of players is a problem for referees. Players communicate with you and if you stay calm, they also behave more calmly," Rosetti continued. - "We want to avoid unnecessary cards and we want to protect the image of the game, so we will strongly discourage 'pressure' from players and unacceptable behaviour. It is a matter of protecting the image of the game and a positive legacy for future generations. Something has to be done and we need you because you are of great importance to us."
Rosetti confirmed that a specialist from the UEFA refereeing corps and, where possible, someone from the refereeing corps will meet with each of the 24 national teams ahead of the championship. At these meetings, the players will be briefed in detail on the technical and disciplinary requirements.
The names of the members of the 18-20 refereeing teams that will work at Euro 2024 will be announced at the end of April.
Referees will be based in Frankfurt during the championship, while VAR assistants will be based in Leipzig.
A separate seminar for referees will be organised from 13 to 16 May.
Euro 2024 will be the most advanced European Championship in history. The upcoming tournament will be the first to utilise adidas Connected Ball technology to aid VAR decision-making, semi-automatic offside detection and goal line crossing technology.
The official Euro 2024 ball contains special motion sensors that provide accurate real-time information and are responsible for unprecedented insight into every component of ball movement and touches, which will significantly reduce the time it takes to make decisions on offsides, hand play and incidents in the penalty area. The data will also be used for TV graphics and visualisations, resulting in a win-win for not only the players but also the fans in front of the TV screens.
Rosetti explained the approach to using VAR in this way, "Minimal intervention with maximum benefit."
In other words, VAR will only intervene in a game when there is an obvious error.
"We want referees to be charismatic enough to make decisions on the pitch," Rosetti explained. - VAR should only be used when there is an obvious mistake."
During Euro 2020, VAR intervened just 18 times in 51 league matches, with nine of those instances being decisions on very non-obvious offsides.
"In cases where there is not 100 per cent clarity on offside, we ask the assistant referees not to raise the flag," Rosetti continued. - 'We only ask them to raise the flag when they are sure. With the semi-automatic offside detection system the problem will be solved and we will save a lot of time on these decisions."
During the seminar, UEFA also discussed the size of bids for the final stage with the coaches.
For Euro 2024, bids are again limited to 23 players, whereas before Euro 2020, participants were allowed to enter 26 players each due to the CoViD-19 pandemic.
Coaches have expressed different opinions on the matter. Some wanted to increase the number of players in order to have more room for manoeuvre in case of injuries in an extremely intense game. Others agreed with the limit of 23 players, noting the difficulties that arise in the training process due to the additional players.
UEFA has listened to all sides and will make a final decision in the coming weeks.