Team News

The Greek football championship has been temporarily suspended due to a boycott by referees and delegates protesting the unsafe conditions they face during matches.

Recently, Greek referees have often become the victims of fan attacks, as some of them have faced accusations of corruption and involvement in match-fixing.

Last month referee Andreas Gamaris was attacked by hooligans with Molotov cocktails, while recently Tasos Papapetrou received death threats for his decisions in a match.

In an open letter to the public, the referees expressed their problems and asked for the public’s understanding of their decision, which they say is in the best interest of football.

“We face threats, violence, physical and verbal attacks, which remain unpunished. Therefore, we have decided not to referee the matches starting next weekend until our safety is guaranteed,” the letter reads, among other things.

The official match ball for Euro 2024 will reportedly have a microchip for 2-case understanding. The goal is to highlight the moments when the ball is touched by hand during the goal action and, of course, to detect the offside position.

The margin of error will not be zero, but it is intended to reduce them. Over the last few seasons, handball and offside have been two of the referees’ biggest problems when communicating with the VAR room. Ahead of next summer’s tournament in Germany, it has been reported that the Adidas ball will feature the new technology!

“The microchip will work in conjunction with limb tracking technology that enables real-time creation of 3D visual representations of players’ skeletons. These devices allow video assistant referees (VARs) to create a computerized image that shows exactly where the ball hit the body. The microchip inside the Adidas match ball also allows the technology to precisely time the kick of the ball, which, together with the limb tracking cameras, ensures extremely accurate decisions and identification of the offside position,” writes The Times.

During Saturday afternoon’s Euro 2024 draw at the Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg, Germany, UEFA officials were stunned as audio from erotic films played in the background.

The presenters tried to continue the development of the draw as if nothing had happened, even though this audio was heard by millions of people who were watching the live draw. Despite trying to remain professional, they found it difficult to remain serious and failed to crack a smile.

It didn’t take long and the author took responsibility for this event that will go down in football history. He is Jarvo69, aka Daniel Jarvis, a household name. That’s because he managed to make the same joke during the BBC’s live coverage of the FA Cup third round tie between Wolves and Liverpool in January.

The International Football Association Board, which sets soccer’s rules, is preparing to take a step forward around the cards that referees can award. In fact, during the last meeting (ABM), the body gave the green light to the orange card testing phase for specific protests and violations.

Experimentation in professional competitions could start from next season in the Premier League. During the last ABM, the body decided to accept requests to experiment with some new measures aimed at improving the behavior of footballers towards match officials.

Among them, in fact, the most sensational new rule concerns the 10-minute suspension, with the orange card, which the match officials (referees) could wave at players guilty of dishonest behavior towards them.

Before this rule is introduced it will need to be tested, with experimentation starting next season. Only after the tests, the IFAB will decide on the relevant rule to include it in the regulations or not.

Another proposal considered is the one related to communications within the field. The captain of each team will, in fact, be identified as the only player who will be able to contact the match official to seek clarification regarding referee selections.

Another tool IFAB can use to protect referees is the body camera. Convincing experimentation, and therefore close to being included in the regulations, for the “live” communication of the referee, after watching an episode in VAR.

The penalty awarded to PSG in the extra minutes of the match against Newcastle has infuriated quite a bit the football opinion around the world, while even UEFA has not remained indifferent to this situation.

According to European media reports, the football government has punished Polish referee Tomasz Kwiaktowski, removing him from the VAR room, in tonight’s match between Real Sociedad and Salzburg.

Kwiaktowski was the VAR referee on Tuesday night, as he was in Spain tonight, but UEFA have decided to send him home early as punishment for the error in France.

UEFA has not yet officially reacted to the episode, however the suspension of the Polish referee speaks volumes and confirms that the European government offices did not like such a penalty at all.

The third anniversary of the death of Diego Armando Maradona has been remembered. On this occasion, X (Twitter) user JoniD has released a never-before-seen video of the Argentine soccer legend. This video filmed by the father of the social network user in question, present in the stadium at the time, belongs to the final of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, in the “Azteca” stadium.

JoniD shared the video, which his father recorded at the time, on social networks and clearly shows the immortal “10” with José Luis Cuciuffo. At first, Diego wanted to throw the ball away, but then hugged Cuciuffo a moment later.

“Today, three years after Maradona’s departure, I share exclusive images recorded by my father, Alfonso Domínguez, from the ‘Azteca’ stadium on June 29, 1986. An indelible memory of the World Cup final between Germany and Argentina,” – wrote the user on X.

Incredible footage of the champion, after whom Napoli’s stadium is named, shows Diego completely at ease as he embraces his team-mates and plays with the ball on the sidelines.

What is especially noticeable is his calmness, the calmness with which he dribbles, despite the fact that it is the 44th minute of the second half, as the author of the video writes on social networks, with the score of the match 3-2. So he was seconds away from eternal glory, winning the title of world champion…