The document discusses changes over time to the age limit for football referees. It notes that refereeing requires good physical condition. UEFA debated raising the international referee age limit from 45 to 50 in 2008. Spanish football regulations in 2010 set the retirement age at 45, or 40 for lower divisions. Then in 2015, FIFA raised the international retirement age to 50 if physical requirements are met. The optimal age to begin referee training is considered to be 14.
2. The limit age in the referees of the football
2
ÍNDEX
1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................3
2. Introduction of the arbitration .......................................................................................................3
3. Changes in the limit aged during the years ....................................................................................4
4. The referees more long-lived in the world .....................................................................................5
5. Conclusions .....................................................................................................................................5
3. The limit age in the referees of the football
3
1. Introduction
Over the years, many people have become part of the history of arbitration in football
and is a profession like any other, it also has an age limit . It is a very demanding job, because
the people who develop it must have a good physical condition, as in previous posts have
indicated.
Therefore it is interesting to dedicate a post to discuss this issue because in recent
years has been the subject quite discussed by the main bodies of world football.
2. Introduction of the arbitration
As in any sport, this group must have had some motivation to get to dive into the
world of football and play this profession doing sport in a different way before.
Before starting to arbitrate matches it is necessary to form. To this end the various
delegations of the technical committee of referees organize training courses, where classes
are taught by a previously designated by the National School of Referees (ENAF) and which
stakeholders must attend the appropriate delegation teacher over a certain time, usually
between one and three months.
This course includes both theoretical and practical, both being equally important to
start in this world, with the main aim of preparing future referees who want to reach the elite.
It should be noted that age is an important factor, as usual for a referee reach the elite
have to have training starting from the youth, being the 14 years an ideal age to begin this
journey.
4. The limit age in the referees of the football
4
3. Changes in the limit aged during the years
In recent years it has changed continuous shape the age limit of football referees. This
topic has been debated since the persons performing this work have to be some great athletes
and assume a football game, with 90 minutes ahead of continuous physical activity and
attentive all the events that happen within the field and between players. Below is a timeline
of recent years where we teach, how they have changed the age limit for referees.
In 2008, UEFA debated topic since the age of maximum of refereeing at international
level stood at 45 years.
In regulations 2010 of the Federation of Spanish football forced the umpires to retire
at the age of 45 years depending on the category to which they belong , in exchange for
referees second B age changes, these had to retire at 40 years.
On the other hand, five years after this event FIFA in 2015, increasing age of
withdrawal of international referees in 50 years, provided they meet the physical
requirements both as doctors according to test results obtained.
5. The limit age in the referees of the football
5
4. The referees more long-lived in the world
According to the regulations, the statutory age of permanence in the arbitration world
is fixed at 45 years. This creates opportunities for other referees who are promoted and
coming from behind progressing well.
Obviously the referees must comply with a physical, mental, technical and tactical
requirements that must be fundamental depending on the category in which they are located.
In 1990 there was a reduction in the arbitration age group, because the physical
condition of these was not the best. For this reason the age limit dropped from 50 to 48, then
to 47 and finally to the current 45.
In the Spanish first division is Carlos Velasco Carballo as more veteran referee, born
on March 6, 1971. On the other side is Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea as the youngest of the
Spanish league, born on March 16, 1986.
5. Conclusions
The Spanish federations referees want to learn young referees in their courses. One
case is that of Cataluña that does not support former referees and persons entering for the first
time may not have more than 23 years. All this we argue saying they are people with
enthusiasm and with renewed mentality, but from our point of view and we wonder what
happens to those referees who are older than these young and have more experience in the
sector?. In response to this question as in many companies in Spain in general and nowadays,
businesses no longer want people after a certain age, because they think they wont be able to
contribute the maximum.
