Far from the heat in Bucharest, at the Grădiștei Gorge, the referees are preparing for the new season of Superliga. I shoot hard at workouts and hope for a year without scandals and mistakes. Here is the Greek Kyros Vassaras, the president of the CCA, and he held a press conference.
For 30 minutes, the former referee presented the activity of CCA, the way in which the Romanian arbitration has constantly changed and how he plans, together with the FRF, to continue the development of the referees. And he also spoke about the new rules that will enter into force in Romanian football.
Kyros Vassaras: “It's time to have a lime center. LPF and EAD must discuss and reach as close to European standards”
“I have been here for 11 years and we have achieved all the proposed goals. We participated in the final phases of the important competitions. When we started, a delegation in the Champions League a big surprise. Now it is normal. And the purpose is to be better and to develop further referees.
We had many meetings, many preparations, we invite all kinds of specialists to prepare for the referees. We collaborate closely with FIFA and UEFA to develop future referees. Recently, I also started a training program for the use of the lime system.
It's time to have a lime center, in which to prepare. FRF, CCA, LPF and EAD must discuss and reach as close as possible to European standardsSaid Kyros Vassaras.
The fact that Istvan Kovacs led the Champions League final is a dream. The next is the World Championship. When it was the Europa League final I told Kovacs that I couldn't come, but that I already reserved everything for the following year, at the UCL final. It was not an accident, it was a hard and long work.
– Kyros Vassaras
4.745of referees were in Romania in 2024. With 1,200 in addition to 2021
4It is the position on which Romania is located in the top of the arbitrators delegations in the UEFA competitions in season 2024-2025, equal to England and Spain, 46. As regards the delegations, Romania is in 10th place
7 data from Kyors Vassaras
- CARDS: “We have about the same number of cards as in the last season. Unfortunately, we still have many protests (180) and simulations (30). We have to solve these problems”
- Play time: In season 2024-2025, the average play time was 49.74 minutes. In a slight decrease compared to season 2023-2024, when it was 50.08. “In the top countries, the game time is somewhere 52-54 minutes. I trained the referees to leave the game free, not to whistle any contact and leave the advantage when appropriate. We believe that the play time will increase in the next period.”
- Rule of 8 seconds: Starting with the new season, in Romania, the rule will apply that the goalkeeper can hold the ball in a maximum of 8 seconds. If it is overcome, the opponent team will receive a corner. “The count begins when the goalkeeper is no longer obstructed by the opponent. The referee counts the first 3 seconds in his mind, then raises his hand and counts the remaining 5 seconds. We do not want to punish the porters, but we want to eliminate the time shoots.”
- Double touch: The rule of double touch will also be applied when a player executes a penalty. “It applies to both penalties and breaks. If the ball is accidentally touched, we do not penalize. The lime intervenes, and the blow will repeat, if it was empty.
- Discussions only with the captains: “The referees will explain the important decisions only to the captains. Only the captain can come to discuss, in a calm and respectful tone. And it will be the captain's responsibility to keep his colleagues away from the arbitrator. We want a dialogue, we want transparency, but in a civilized way.
- Ovidiu Hațegan the new lime manager: “He will be the manager of Var. He will analyze everything, he will report together with the specialized team.
- 3 referees did not pass the physical tests: Andrei Antonie, Lucian Rusandu and Bogdan Dumitrache did not pass the physical tests. “They had injuries and could not be in the parameters. They must declare when they are ready, when they can be tested. If they do not give the tests, they cannot be delegated.”
Everyone is wrong. We want to be better, to be fewer mistakes. It is impossible not to make mistakes, but we want them not to be decisive. It is impossible to have no mistakes. If there will be none, everyone will come to see how we succeeded. But we see in other mistakes. The referees could also be helped by players or coaches. Not to have any pressure, simulations or exaggerations. It would be much better.
Foreign referees? I don't hear many voices asking for this. UEFA said to the federations that resort to foreign referees to reduce the number.
– Kyros Vassaras
The role will be to improve the benefits of lime referees. No one can imagine a lime-free match. I will have discussions after an analysis of the benefits. We will discuss what we need to improve. I will activate more but you will see me much less. My role will be a little different. I will only activate when needed.
A simulator will appear that will improve the performance substantially. The world complains that they are expecting a lot for a decision. Most of the time the wait is caused by technical problems. But we can improve ourselves too. The lines at offsaid? There are many problems related to stadiums and infrastructure. Some stadiums do not offer all the conditions for calibration of lines. The system needs all the landmarks to calibrate.
– Ovidiu Hațegan
