The 2019/20 Season F. League Referee Refresher Course was held for three days from Monday 29 April to Wednesday 1 May at JFA House in Tokyo.

The refresher course started with the F. League Chairman Mr. WATANABE Masato giving out this season’s league overview, followed by the judgment criteria, and the requests provided from the teams. The participants then held discussions on refereeing before conducting a practical training session at Sumida Futsal Arena to conclude the eventful refresher course.

Participants’ Comments

TANAKA Kentaro, Futsal Class-1 Referee
At the beginning of the refresher course, it was mentioned that this year will be a pivotal year for the F. League, especially with the qualifiers for the 2020 World Cup taking place. In order to heighten the F. League to the world standards, us referees must also carry the commitment to strive for higher levels, while acting as the third team on the court to protect the safety of the players. As part of last year’s problems, it was discussed that the referees must find better ways to share information among each other. The necessary information must not only be shared between the referee and the assistant referee, but the third official and the timekeeper must also get themselves more involved to achieve a better performance as a team. We also went over match films to review the responses taken by the referees in a match. By going over the films objectively, we were able to find out what can be achieved by taking certain actions. It also allowed me to realise the importance to convey the message not only to the teams and players, but to the audience as well. I will continue to pursue effective ways to manage the match and become more persuasive as a referee. With the league starting this month, I will enter the new season with a stronger responsibility and commitment as an individual, as well as a member of the referee team. Lastly, I would like to thank the F. League, JFA, and all the people involved for making this refresher course possible. Thank you very much.

IKEGAYA Takanobu, Futsal Class-1 Referee Instructor
This was my first F. League Referee Refresher Course since obtaining my Class-1 licence in 2018. At the beginning of the course, Chairman OGAWA Yoshimi of the JFA Referees Committee told us the need to “Fulfil your responsibility with dignity and stay professional on the pitch,” which got me deeply inspired. At this refresher course, we were given the opportunity to share information with the entire referees ahead of the start of the season. At a personal level, this course has helped me compensate the areas I lacked to become a better referee. After going through the film analysis from the matches of 2018, it really made me realise how inexperienced I was compared to the instructors and the senior referees. During the course of “positioning,” we covered the pros and cons of getting close to the action. When discussing about “communication,” we learned that there are effective ways to give out cautions to players, and that it is a method to convey a message to the player, team, and the audience. In order to give the player time to calm down, I hope to implement the six-second rule of anger management to better manage the situations in the future. Lastly, with the World Cup qualifiers scheduled for the Japan Futsal National Team this year, higher standards will be demanded in the daily league matches. I hope to utilise what I’ve learned during this course to better manage the matches and help provide higher match quality. I would like to thank the F. League, JFA, the instructors, and everybody involved for preparing this refresher course.