Raising standards and reducing differences: policy issues

The focus of this chapter is on policy implications related to footballing authorities demanding consistency, and UEFA and FIFA’s attempts at standardising refereeing practices/decision-making. Referees should, ideally, be officiating the same way in all games, in whatever league they officiate. However, whether greater standardisation can be achieved at all is debatable. This chapter critically analyses the differences in systems and implications for standardisation, training and support networks for preparation and performance, the relationships with UEFA and FIFA and referee pre-match preparation becoming pre-match judgement. These concepts are related back to the notion of standardisation across leagues and geographical boundaries.