Katia Senesi and Matteo Trefoloni in Vienna for the meeting of the UEFA Referee Convention Panel – Italian Referee Association
Katia SienaMember of the National Committee of the AIA, he participated in a meeting in Vienna as a member of the UEFA Referees Expert Group. A moment of analysis and comparison, after the first visits made in the various European countries. In particular, Katia Senesi went to Croatia at the end of October, for a meeting with the local heads of the Referee Committee, who described their organization and the operating methods for the development of refereeing, both in terms of quality and recruitment.
The meeting in Vienna then saw, on its second day, the participation of UEFA instructors from the 55 member countries of the UEFA Referee Convention. For Italy, the Head of the Technical Arbitration Sector was in fact present Matthew Trefoloni.
The appointment focused mainly on three themes: violence against match officials, recruitment and retention, female refereeing. Each of these has been entrusted to a nation that has carried out specific projects. Italy, given the important development in the last two sports seasons, has been used as an example for the women’s refereeing movement. Katia Senesi thus illustrated to the audience the work carried out by the Italian Referees Association, with the various projects and tools made available to the members, which have brought important results both internally (debut in Serie A of the first female referee) and international. The issue of violence was instead the prerogative of Finland, while Portugal was entrusted with the report on recruitment.
The meeting then continued with a series of group work, to examine further experiences and ideas on possible future developments, the results of which were then presented in the plenary. “It was two days filled with meetings, sharing and comparisons to plan work for the coming months – said Katia Senesi – In fact, there are all the premises to continue the work in a profitable way. Our thanks go to Francesco Bianchi, who until now has held the role of Supervisor for Italy“.
(In the main photograph Katia Senesi and Matteo Trefoloni. In the photos in the gallery: with Francesco Bianchi; with the Uefa observer from San Marino Stefano Podeschi; some moments in the classroom; the report on the Italian women’s refereeing movement)