the sound system of French referees has been validated by Fifa, announces the president of the federal referees commission

French referees may be equipped with microphones and their decisions, on disputed actions, may be heard by spectators.

This is a step forward that the technical management of French arbitration has wanted to implement for more than a year. Eric Borghini, president of the Federal Referees Commission, revealed to The Team, Wednesday February 21, that Fifa had accepted that French referees be equipped, for a large-scale test, with microphones and that some of their decisions be given sound. “Fifa has given authorization to experiment with this practice in several countries, including France.he detailed.

Information that Eric Borghini, also a member of the FFF executive committee, also confirmed to Radio France on Wednesday evening: “It’s in the direction of history and it’s also a form of transparency that we owe to the fans, to the public, to the broadcasters too. It’s a real plus for television to be able to benefit from explanations that the referee will give live, initially on the decisions which will have been sent by the VAR referees, and I hope, one day, in a more fluid way, all the time, a bit like in rugby.”

This referee sound system was first tested by Fifa during the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina in May 2023 and initially refused to France by the International Football Association Board (Ifab), The body that governs the laws of the game.

Referees with sound from next year in Ligue 1?

As Borghini explains, in France, the sound system will not be systematic for each use of VAR. “The microphones would only be connected for the most contentious actions, when the referee reviews them“, he warned, specifying that the French authorities remain in favor of a “permanent sound system“.

When will we be able to listen for the first time to a referee explaining a decision taken on the field? The dates of the experiment have not yet been revealed by the president of the Federal Referees Commission. According to information from Radio France, the tests will only concern the French women’s championship. They will debut during the play-offs of the first women’s division which will take place next May. Concerning men’s football, the French Football Federation hopes to test this sound system during the next Coupe de France final.