football referee in Vendée, he gives himself up

Established in Vendée since 2010, Zelkif Simsek36 ans, is a referee in Sables-d’Olonne.

Every weekend, for about five years, he roams the stadiums of Vendée as a sideline or central referee.

He occupies this role, both thankless, but so important for holding a football match… Why did he become a referee? What is it like to be a referee in Vendée? He answered questions from Sand Journal.

How long have you been a referee and at what level?

I completed the initial refereeing training at the beginning of 2020. Due to Covid, my first real refereeing season is in 2021-2022. I passed my League exam so I have been refereeing at regional level since this season. We are regularly observed and graded to move up the ladder. For the moment, I referee in R3, but I could go up to Regional 1.

Why did you become a referee?

I come from a football family. I am of Turkish origin and football is a religion there. I had a subscription to the Parc des Princes when I lived in the Paris region. Naturally, I like playing football. I played with leisure at Château-d’Olonne, but unfortunately I must admit, I’m not the best, so I wanted to try refereeing, out of curiosity and I immediately loved it. Human exchange, I simply like talking with people. I have been working in security for around ten years and I served for five years in the national gendarmerie reserve and I have always been attached to this respect for the rules and good spirit and I transpose it wherever I have been. I think I instinctively wanted to transpose this to football and I could only become a referee!

What is the role of a referee in your opinion? What type of referee are you?

The role of the referee is to protect the players and ensure that the match goes well, within the rules of football. I think I am a fair referee. I sanction relatively little, I have a low card average. And already, in the gendarmerie, I verbalized little. In my opinion, we are there to have fun. People forget it a little, but we referees love football, we like to see the ball rolled. For me, the ideal match is the match where no one sees me.

What is it like to be a referee in Vendée?

As far as I am concerned, I have refereed almost everywhere in Vendée. Honestly, in 99% of cases, I have always been very well received, before, during and after the matches. It’s football folklore to be fooled by the public too. As a referee, we don’t hear it. Before and after the match, people are smiling with you, even in away matches. Sometimes, when leaving matches, I sometimes discuss with the supporters a situation where they did not agree. At our level, we can afford it. On Monday, we will all be hiring, so we are far from professional football.

Future ambitions?

Physically, I feel very good, I will try to go further in the regional. Unfortunately, I will not be able to referee in National, I am 36 years old, you have to be 30 years old to take the Federal exam, so I will go where I can.

Any regrets about starting refereeing at 32?

I think I could have gone higher, but I don’t have any specific regrets. Afterwards, if I had to do it again, I would start sooner!

A positive and negative memorable memory?

At the end of last season, I was refereeing a Vendée derby and at the end of the match, supporters entered the pitch to attack players. At no time did I feel in danger. Sometimes, emotions mixed with passion can trigger completely irresponsible reactions. On the other hand, I could tell you positive anecdotes every weekend! Sometimes, with the players, after the match, we relax very nicely. It’s good, when I re-arbitrate them, there is a good climate.

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