I usually try to stay out of your way, but I thought this was interesting and did not see this on another thread. http://www.fifa.com/en/display/article,70046.html "For the first time in an official FIFA competition these custodians of the beautiful game will be testing earpieces as a means of communicating with one another in the heat of the action..."
This will work if all members of the referee crew are fluent in a common language. Certainly this was the case in the Columbia France match, since the officials were all from Portugal. It will not always be the case so let's see how well it works.
Well looking at the crews (and they are working fixed three man crews this tournament, right) it looks like only the AFC crew will have any serious issues (An Iranian and a Japanese ref, that would be an interesting conversation). I started a separate thread specifically about the France v. Colombia game (https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55683) but it looks like the radio may have been used to good measure in that game.
I think this is a step in the right direction! it will one day be implemented in club games and they wont have problems there since the refs are from the same country.
This is pretty awesome and a hell of a lot better than the "beeper" flags they used in WC98. This should greatly improve communication between Refs but my only beef is that the 4th official should have one too.
Can someone explain to a non-referee what the idea behind this is? How will being able to talk to one another "in the heat of action" result in better refereeing? The center already has the ability to wave off an AR's call, and this system only allows the center to initiate a conversation. Any help would be appreciated.
How much time do you have??? There is a myriad of situations in which a Center would benifit from being able to hear from his assistant. I will list only one and let my colleages chip in. Assistants often see and hear things behind the play that the center misses. A short word like "watch #8 behind you, he is about to kick the defender" would allow the reff to perhaps turn around and prevent something before it actually happens.
I misread the article the first time. I thought it meant that only the center could initiate conversation. Instead, the AR must push a button to say something but can initiate nevertheless. Now I see how it could be helpful. Thanks.