Referees: traditional pre-season seminar at the weekend, international duties for Ilie, D’Adamo and Vandi

The past few days have been an intense week on the refereeing front. Focusing on what took place within San Marino, the traditional A.S.A. pre-season seminar was held between Friday and Saturday ahead of the upcoming football season. The sessions, hosted at San Marino Stadium, opened on Friday with an introduction by A.S.A. President Marcello Busignani and with greetings from the FSGC top management – specifically President Marco Tura and Secretary General Luigi Zafferani. This was followed by an update on the latest amendments to the Laws of the Game, a follow‑up quiz, and presentations by Christian Brighi and Stefano Podeschi on DOGSO, SPA and teamwork. The opening fixtures of Matchday 1 in the Campionato Sammarinese offered, in particular for the referee observers’ group, the chance for a practical on‑field session. The following morning those same matches were the subject of a detailed review led by speakers Cenci and Podeschi, while Ascari and Brighi focused on referees’ movement and positioning on the pitch. Simone Savoretti, fitness coach of the Sammarinese refereeing group, spoke about pre‑match warm‑up routines as well as appropriate training methods and fitness tests. To conclude, Mattei and Cenci delivered an in‑depth analysis on offside and handball.

Turning to international appointments – and to futsal – there were two refereeing delegations in action last week. Murata were in Hungary for Group D of the Preliminary Round of the UEFA Futsal Champions League, while Group A featured Laurentiu Ilie representing Sammarinese colours. In Austria, the A.S.A. referee officiated on 26 August Vrhnika v Maccabi Netanya as second referee and Proekt v Athletic Club Graz as third referee; on 27 August, Proekt v Vrhnika as first referee and finally, on 29 August, Maccabi Netanya v Proekt as second referee. San Marino’s other international futsal referee, Daniele D’Adamo, was meanwhile in Cascia together with Paolo Vandi for the C.A.N. 5 Élite seminar. Sharing the classroom with the two A.S.A. officials was the very best of the Italian futsal refereeing scene. Here too, much as during the San Marino referees’ seminar, there was a comprehensive briefing ahead of the new season. Common guidelines, law changes (Serie A will trial a new format for the so‑called flying goalkeeper) and ethical principles were discussed. Participants were also put through quizzes and video quizzes, before wrapping up the three‑day seminar (from 27 to 29 August) with a double working session: referees on the pitch, observers in the classroom.