'We need to let football breathe', says new head of CBF referees

The Brazilian team's CT environment turned the page after the hexa's frustrated dream. The focus now is the return of national competitions and the beginning of a new management at the head of the arbitration committee.

The president's chair belongs to Ricci, who now shares responsibilities with the still-new arbitration board, headed by Netto Góes. The goal is to implement a new philosophy, combining technical training with technological devices. But the focus, mainly, is behavioral. But what philosophy is this?

"Less refereeing, more football. I think we need to let football breathe a little. Obviously, this is not a process that will have results this Friday (17), but it is a cultural process, a change in culture. This takes a little time, but it is important that we have a clear message with the referees. This is very important for them to understand the way we understand this here", said Ricci.

Sandro is a former referee of two World Cups, a former commentator for Globo and a former instructor at Major League Soccer (MLS). Now, he comes to be one of the faces in a pressured environment. But the CBF's strategy is to shield him, leaving Netto Góes to resolve institutional issues with clubs.

"With the creation of the arbitration board, the commission's work has become much more technical. It is important for us to leave the institutional, strategic issue to the board and focus on the technical side of the referees. And what they (from the CBF) asked is that I bring a little of my field experience and also the experience in the last three years that I have had with professional MLS referees, to be able to contribute to this process of developing national arbitration", added the new president.

Referees are already being trained based on the new rules adopted by FIFA for the World Cup. Most of them will be adopted by Conmebol - with the exception of the Vini Jr Law (which punishes with a red card anyone speaking to an opponent by putting their hand over their mouth during an argument).

In the Brazilian Championship, the CBF scheduled a meeting with the clubs at the beginning of August to hammer out the date for incorporating the new rules.

WHAT ELSE SANDRO MEIRA RICCI SAID

What have you seen from the referees so far?

"I find people here very motivated, very happy too. It's important that we try, with this training, to create a refereeing philosophy. For the clubs, it's the style of play. For us, it's the refereeing philosophy, so that we have more consistent decisions. It's our objective, but also the expectation of the public, the players and the teams."

What else is part of philosophy?

"In fact, it is a path towards improving football. We have a very big effort being made by the CBF with regard to increasing the time the ball is rolling. And refereeing is, in fact, an agent that promotes this. People go to the stadium to watch football, not to see refereeing. We are part of football and we need to make decisions that are always clear. Because our decision can interfere not only in the game, but also in the result. It is important that we have a philosophy of respecting the dynamics of football more. It is a philosophy, a change of culture, but I believe the referees are completely aligned with that."

How will you deal with the complaining and pressured environment?

"One of the initiatives that, in fact, motivated me to accept this challenge, which really is a giant challenge, is a cultural change that we have to make. Not just from the inside out. But also a change in culture that we also need to make from there to here. In other words, we are all in favor of football. There needs to be a change in culture on the part of the clubs, the players, so that we can play better football."

"Regarding the relationship with clubs and federations, one very important thing that I found in this process is exactly that we separate what is institutional from what is technical. So, we have the continuous support of Netto (Góes), the arbitration board, in this relationship with the clubs and federations. Obviously we participate in the technical part, but we understand that this will allow us, the commission, to be more focused on preparing the referees and on this change in philosophy".

Talking about demands, how will you deal with errors in your role?

"In a natural way, it is an activity of the human being. Just as players also make mistakes, we have to know when we make mistakes. There is an analysis that usually takes place on the part of clubs, players and fans, which is a completely partial analysis. And what we cannot do is make exactly this mistake, of having here also a partial, corporatist analysis. We intend to act with transparency. This will bring credibility, not only to the outside world, but also internally. It is important for referees to recognize it. Because every time you give an instruction or makes a decision that may seem partial, corporatist, you end up harming the entire instruction process. And we cannot compromise an entire instruction process, which is serious, by supporting decisions that are clearly wrong."

Are you going to use the term refrigerator if you need to take someone off the scale? Are you going to use that name?

No, there is no refrigerator.

Schedules for later rounds have already been released, further in advance. Will this be the policy?

"That will be the policy. We are talking about a professional environment, correct? The players know the commitments they have since the beginning of the year. Why don't the referees? We are talking about a professional environment. It's important for a guy to plan his training. How is he going to train during this week, if he only knows on Thursday or Friday that