Science of football: Referees | Goal.com

Should the expectations, treatment and training of players be extended to referees.

In a previous column I spoke about how fatigue can be emotional, physical, mental. I further explained that regardless of its cause, fatigue will always decrease performance for both players and referees.

Within any team structure, team physicians, sport scientists, strength and conditioning coaches and sport psychologists are working hard with the technical team to minimise fatigue and thus optimise performance.

The physical and cognitive match demands of referees are equivalent to players.

Referees usually cover similar distances as midfield players, which highlights their intense workload in a single match. Suggested recovery time for matches has been two days with recent research indicating that five days might be needed.

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