the referees’ sound system goes “in the direction of history”, believes Antony Gautier, technical director of refereeing at the FFF

“Increased communication around arbitration is the meaning of history today”estimated this Friday, May 3 on franceinfo the technical director of refereeing at the French Football Federation (FFF), Antony Gautier, while the referees’ sound system will be tested during the final of the Women’s French Cup in Montpellier on Saturday .

“This device will come into action from the moment a situation requires the intervention of video assistancefirst explains Antony Gautier.. The referee will be able to provide explanations on how the decision was made. The sound will initially be broadcast within the stadium, then it will be taken up by the broadcaster so that it can be transmitted to all viewers.”

“This can only be beneficial for football in general or refereeing in particular”, he continues. This experiment will concern the four cases that exist in the video assistance protocol: goals scored, direct exclusions, penalty situations and possible identity errors.

“As soon as the time comes, we will be ready to go further on the issue of referees’ sound systemshe also assured. I wanted to train all Ligue 1 referees on this system as quickly as possible, for implementation from August 2024.” If the Professional Football League (LFP) is in favor of implementing this system in Ligue 1 from next season, it is still suspended from its technical feasibility in the stadiums so that the sound is recovered and the referee can explain to the public its decisions.