Teams participating in Euro 2024 have been informed by FIFA that only captains will be permitted to talk with referees about decisions made during games; other players who do so run the danger of receiving a booking (shown a card).
The European Football Association (EFFA) has taken action to attempt and prevent player groupings from “mobbing” officials in situations that are “terrible for the image of football.”
Roberto Rosetti, Uefa’s general director of officiating, stated, “We at Uefa want referees to explain more of their judgements to all teams competing at the future Uefa Euro 2024 competition in an effort to better the status quo.
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Why don’t we just do this? The concept is straightforward:
we ask that each side make sure that only their captain communicates with the referee. “We request that the captains make sure their teammates do not approach and encircle the referee, enabling candid discussions to occur so that the ruling is communicated in a prompt and courteous manner.”
Uefa’s move comes after the International Football Association Board (Ifab), the body that oversees football, announced trials earlier this year that included restricting a team’s captain’s ability to approach a referee in specific circumstances.
Germany, host of Euro 2024, will open the competition on Friday, June 14th, with a match against Scotland. Rosetti continued, “Any teammate who approaches the referee displaying any evidence of disrespect or dissent and/or ignores his captain’s duty will be issued a yellow card.
It goes without saying that if the captain is the goalie, someone has to be nominated from the outfield to fill this duty in the event that something goes wrong at the other end of the field.
