Time flies, and the 01-02 season is over. ＊

For Jack, this season has been a smooth one, even far beyond his imagination. First of all, Jack got the international referee qualification and really became an international referee. This status is very useful in the English refereeing community, after all, the number of international referees in the English refereeing community is very small.

When Jack first became a Premier League referee, he did not have any say in the referees' committee and the Premier League referees' meetings. But with Jack becoming an international referee, Jack's opinion is no longer ignored.

Then he got a place as a candidate referee for the World Cup, although he was not selected as a World Cup referee in the end. But it's also a very important qualification that will help Jack a lot in the future.

And for Jack a lot of help Philip. Don stepped down. The referee's committee was held in Philippe. When Tang existed, he was a very strong institution, and even wrestled with the FA and the Premier League.

But with Philip. Don's departure, Keith. After Hackett became the chief referee, he began to reconcile with the FA and the Premier League. Keith. Hackett is not like Philip. Don fought for the referee's interests and grabbed the cake from the FA and the Premier League. Instead, they negotiate with the FA and the Premier League, and they spend a part of their money every year to increase the referee's income.

The income increase is not fast.

At the end of the 01-02 season, Jack signed a new refereeing contract with the Premier League. The basic company rose to £36,000 and earned £1,300 per game. That's an increase of around £20,000 from two years ago.

Of course, Jack's ** this season is after entering 2002. Jack cooperated with the French eyewear brand Essilor and became their spokesperson, and received a super endorsement fee of 110,000 pounds a year. surpassed Collina to become the referee with the highest single endorsement fee in world football.

The biggest achievement came in February 2002. Jack officiated in the English League Cup final. He became the youngest referee in the history of English football to referee a League Cup final.

It's like a wrap-up report, Jack at the end of the season. I will also give a brief summary of what happened to me this season, and I will look forward to the future.

Jack had just become an international referee. As a result, Jack hopes to officiate the UEFA Cup next season. It is best to be able to officiate the knockout rounds of the Confederations Cup. In addition, he has already officiated the League Cup final in the Premier League, and Jack will look forward to the Community Shield and FA Cup finals.

Hopefully we can continue to do it next season.

Just as Jack was summing up the season and looking forward to next season, something big was wrong on the side of FIFA's refereeing committee that selected the World Cup referees.

"What the hell is going on?"

Villar angrily slammed the object directly on the table. Villar's face became very ugly.

"Angel, don't be in a hurry."

"Senes, how can I not be in a hurry. You look at this fitness report, so many people don't pass it. It's May now, isn't that a problem for us? ”

16 May 2002. FIFA's final inspection report on the World Cup referees has come out.

Originally, this was also a situation of going through the motions.

After all, the referees who can go to the final round are the world's top referees carefully selected by FIFA. Even if this World Cup recruited some referees from weak and small football countries, they are all experienced veteran referees.

Therefore, the final investigation is actually the final determination, and there is no big problem in the first place.

But after the final exam report came out, Angel. Villar's face darkened. I can't help but be angry. The rest of the results are good, after all, they are the top referees in the world.

But when the physical fitness report came out, it was simply too much of a problem.

Several top referees are not up to par in physical fitness. Even a few of them are in very poor physical condition.

The World Cup is very demanding for referees. The physical requirements are higher. The distance traveled per game is no worse than that of the players, and even the average distance traveled by the referee per game is more than the average distance traveled by the players.

Only when he can run and can run, can the referee run to a good position and run to a place where the line of sight cannot be stopped. Only such a referee can become a top referee. Hence any league. The referee's physical strength is checked before the season.

Even in England, referees are involved in physical training before the season. Of course, as long as you participate in physical training, you can get an additional subsidy. In England, it is a ten-day physical training that costs around £5,000 to £6,000.

The referee is so focused on fitness. I didn't expect that when there were only more than 20 days before the World Cup, the physical fitness of the World Cup referees was so poor. How could it not be that Angel . Villar is not angry.

Referee's fitness report. It's not just physical reserves. There are also the ability to run short distances and sprints back and forth, and so on. Some referees are too bad in this regard to meet the requirements of World Cup referees.

"Angel. Now what? ”

"What to do. Those who are not physically fit will be beaten back. ”

Angel. Villar has been able to sit in the position of president of the Spanish Football Federation for more than ten years, and his wrist is very strong. Especially in La Liga, Real Madrid and Barcelona have their own strengths, and they all want to develop their own strength in the Spanish Football Federation. In addition to them, there have been many real estate owners who have invested in Spanish football in the past decade, and they are all unruly. But Villar can balance, one will fight with Real Madrid, one will become Barcelona's umbrella, one will hit the two of them together, anyway, left, right and right can be balanced.

Such people have wrists, and they are also very tough.

"You see, DeSantis' physical strength is not up to par either. Did he really take him? ”

Senes. Elger frowned. Although the two of them are the two big leaders of FIFA, the power of those world's top referees cannot be ignored at will.

These referees can reach the position of the world's top referees, not only because of their own strength, but also because of their huge network of referees, as well as the full support of their own football associations, and of course, there will be no lack of support from institutions like UEFA.

So even Angel. Villar and Sennes. Elger won't easily offend these top judges.

DeSantis, this is the famous Italian referee.

He is known as the "successor of Corina". In fact, his age, qualifications, and abilities are not "Corina's successors". It's just that Corina is very famous, so it just covers them.

DeSantis is not a referee for small characters. The status of the Italian referee is second only to Collina. Don't look at him as the No. 2 referee in Italy, but he is still a famous referee in European football. He has officiated a lot of heavyweight matches. There are knockout rounds in the Champions League and the European Cup.

So Sennes. Elger will be worried.

"There are a lot of good referees in Italy. Since DeSantis is physically weak, he will come with another person. Anyway, as long as we don't cancel the quota of Italian referees, the Italian Football Federation will not be able to mess with us. ”

Villar, however, was very decisive. It's not for nothing anyway, it's for good reason. DeSantis himself is not physically fit, and he can't say anything.

"So choose Paparesta as a referee?"

There are too many good referees in Italy. Corina is the world's No. 1 referee, and DeSantis is also the top referee in European football. But apart from the two of them, there are also excellent referees in Italian football, such as Paparesta, Bettini and Trefloni. It's all a big name in European football.

Of course, among these referees, Paparesta is the best young referee.

"Well, Paparesta referee is good. Send him a telegram. Let him assemble here. ”

The sharp increase in the number of referees in this World Cup has made many traditional football powers very dissatisfied. Hence Villar and Senes. Elger's approach is simple. After those referees who are not physically fit are brushed down, a referee from their country is still selected for selection. So that their Football Association will not have anything else to say.

Anyway, whoever goes is not going is not going, as long as it is the referee of his own country.

Therefore, they kept discussing the World Cup referees who were going to retire, and this time there were seven referees who were not physically fit, and of course some referees were barely able to pass the test.

Such a referee still gives a face, and let them practice well in the remaining twenty or so days.

"This is Gallagher referee."

Villar and Sennes. Elger was already numb. Among these unfit referees, DeSantis is the most powerful and famous. After all, he is known as Italy's No. 2 referee. In the ranks of referees in European football, it is also a top referee who can easily enter the top ten.

The other referees, compared to DeSantis, are a big difference.

This time there was also an English referee who was caught. Gallagher from England. Physical fitness is not enough. Especially in the round-trip test, the results are almost at the bottom.

This makes Villar and Sennes. Elger couldn't laugh or cry. The Premier League is known as the fastest-paced league, and the referees who come out of the Premier League are all physically good. Unexpectedly, Gallagher, one of the top referees in the Premier League, failed the physical fitness test.

"Is Gallagher referee old? He's not very old. ”

Villar teased Gallagher without hesitation. Speaking of the poor level of the English referees. Or that English referees don't have any place in European football.

If it weren't for the development of media in England, the fact that England is still the birthplace of modern football, and the fact that the Premier League is getting stronger and stronger, these factors would have given England the same number of international referees as Italy. Otherwise, with the poor performance of the English referee, they would not have won two places in the World Cup. Giving them one is enough to save face.

"This time England have only four World Cup referee candidates. There are two people left, one is Howard. Webb, one is Jack. Plum. We are to choose one of the two of them. ”

Senes. Elger didn't make fun of Gallagher. It's about the current situation.

Why there are candidates for the World Cup is to be used at this time. When a referee has a problem, a few people are selected from among the candidate referees to be replaced.

"Howard. Weber? A little impressed. ”

Villar nodded, Webber and Jack are both very young to become international referees, and they are also the two young referees that the FA focuses on cultivating. Villar, as the head of the FIFA and UEFA referee committees, has also heard of Webb.

"Jack. Lee bar. He did well in the Carabao Cup final at the end of February and I don't think there will be too many problems. Young referees give more chances, and I think the media will be happy to see it. ”

If it is recommended by English football, then Webb will definitely be recommended. Because Webb is older, more senior, and more stable than Jack.

But Villar they are different. Jack has made frequent appearances in the media, surpassing Webb quite a bit in terms of fame. And Villar had a good impression of Jack, so he casually appointed Jack.

"Isn't it too young?"

"He doesn't need to officiate any important games. Just let him come over and officiate a group stage game. Anyway, there are so many referees this time, and after everyone has finished enforcing a game, there will be no more games left. ”

"Okay, I'll send a telegram to the FA right away."

"Yes."

The two of them discussed one by one and brushed off those who failed in physical fitness. However, all of them failed the physical ability, and none of them failed the written exam.

"I didn't expect that so many referees could fail physically. Didn't the league just end? ”

"It's all the football associations of all countries that make trouble. They are afraid that these referees will make mistakes in the league and affect the selection of World Cup referees. So the more they get to the end, the more careful they are, the more they don't give them much chance to enforce the law. Let them raise, and in the end they will become waste. ”

"Huh. Also. (To be continued......)