Refereeing is the other big stone in the shoes of small clubs. No referee immediately means sanctions. Almost impossible to cut it. The sanction applies to transfers.
The regulations stipulate that one referee is needed in D3, two in D1 and three in R3. “It can be penalizing for clubs which do not have sufficient staff. The first year, they lost two transferees, four the second year and six the third year. Which means they find themselves in complicated situations. When they go down, players leave for more interesting levels and you can no longer recruit,” explains Luc Tréguer, elected to the district.
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Triple punishment
It is a real vicious circle which is not unrelated to the disappearance of many clubs. “It’s even a triple penalty: the descent, the fewer number of transferees, plus the financial sanction”deplores Laetitia Menez, former president of Tréglonou.
Obviously, without a referee, no game, but without a club, no football.
“The number of referees should be based on the number of licensees to help small clubs. There is another problem when we are lucky enough to be able to welcome a referee, he only covers us after four years,” deplores Karine Kerdraon from Dirinon.
Clubs implement actions to promote refereeing, but they are not rewarded or favored. Only the sanction prevails, most often.
However, solutions exist, such as sponsorship. A young referee from a larger club could cover for a small club to avoid punishment in exchange for being accompanied on match days by a volunteer from the small club. “It’s give and take,” indicates Laetitia Menez.
The future president will have to arbitrate all of this.
