Is the linesman’s future in jeopardy? Asked about the question during a meeting at the National Football Center in Clairefontaine with the French officials present at the World Cup (November 20-December 18), Cyril Gringore, linesman member of Clément Turpin’s refereeing trio, prefers to handle humor on the matter. “Personally, I stop my career after the competition“, he dodges with a smile.
Before changing his mind, to answer this question more seriously: “Our goodwill is not just offside. There is also the help to be given to the referee who is not necessarily visible because we work a lot in the headset.“With the widespread use, for the very first time, of the semi-automatic offside, or “SAOT” as it is acronym (Semi-Automated Offside Technology) during the World Cup, line referees see the arrival of a technology that will help them gain in precision and speed, but which could eventually replace them.
In 2018, the introduction of VAR had already considerably changed the way line referees work. Since four years, “we delay our decision when we think there is offside. We must, in case of doubt, give the advantage to the attack by letting the action continuedescribes Cyril Gringore. And then we make our decision at the end of the action.” Even if it means making certain phases of the game frustrating where the offside seemed obvious.
Before VAR, the entire responsibility for whether or not an offside was whistled rested with these linesmen. With video refereeing, and the now introduction of SAOT, their role in the field continues to evolve. The appearance of new technologies could a priori suggest that they would only be used to indicate in which direction the key should go.
“The assistant’s role should not be restricted to the action of signaling offside or not, or hitting or not hittingassures Nicolas Danos, the last member of the arbitration trio of Clément Turpin, who tested the SAOT in the Champions League. We are there to intervene, because things can happen behind the back of the central referee. We also have a different angle of view from him on certain situations. A vision of the game which notably makes it possible to determine whether a player puts an opponent in a legal position. A situation that the SAOT cannot judge, as on Kylian Mbappé’s goal against Spain in the final of the League of Nations in October 2021.
Beyond this aspect, the various referees met at Clairefontaine and who will officiate during the World Cup do not believe in the end of the line referee. “That the moment of offside is the most important moment for the touch referees, of course. But it’s not just that. On the edge of the field, there is also a lot of relationship with players who are closer to them than to the central referee.“, notes Benoît Millot, who will officiate as VAR referee during the competition.
The line referees are therefore also there to defuse conflicts between players, or to appease some of them. If from their confessions, the appearance of the VAR deposit and the gesture – the hand on the headset – have generally made it possible to limit the disputes of the players, the latter continue to question the arbitration decisions. The presence of line referees is therefore central.
“And then there is also a real notion of a referee team“, underlines Benoît Millot. “We have shared experiences that are phenomenal. There are times in the year when I spend more time with Cyril [Gringore] and Nicholas [Danos] only with my wife and children“, smiles Clement Turpin.
Present alongside the latter since 2016, Cyril Gringore and Nicolas Danos are not worried about the future of the line referee profession. “For us, it is a help. We don’t take it as a sanction that there is VAR and semi-automatic offside.”, says Nicolas Danos. “We need assistants, in terms of collaboration or otherwise. They will remain in the game regardless of the technological advances that will come“, assures Stéphanie Frappart, referee also present in Qatar.
While waiting for future developments, assistant and central referees were able to adapt to SAOT, which they did not all have the opportunity to practice, during a training course in Madrid last June. Arrived on November 9 in Doha, they also tried it during a youth tournament organized under the conditions of the World Cup. Life-size training, like the players, to be ready for the high mass of world football.