Referee teams launch EURO 2012 final preparations

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UEFA EURO 2012 referee teams have been sent into the final phase of preparations for the tournament with the backing to make a memorable contribution at this summer's festival of football in Poland and Ukraine.

The referees, assistant referees, additional assistant referees and fourth officials are gathered in Warsaw this week for their EURO preparatory workshop, during which they will receive key instructions from the UEFA Referees Committee and undertake fitness work to fine-tune themselves for the assignments to come.

"EURO 2012 will be a tough challenge," UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina told the match officials. "It will not only be remembered for the quality of the play, but also for the quality of the refereeing. We need a very high commitment from all of you from now until the end of the competition."

Each of the 31 games in Poland and Ukraine will be handled by a full team of seven match officials, with the referee, two assistant referees and the fourth official being supplemented by two additional assistant referees as well as a reserve assistant referee. The additional assistant referees, who stand on the goal line and focus in particular on penalty-area incidents, are being deployed as part of a continuing experiment, authorized by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).