Referees' gathering in Nyon

Europe’s leading men and women referees and men assistant referees meet in Nyon this week for their annual summer gathering, in which they join members of the UEFA Referees' Committee in preparing for the new European competition season and look back at the latter half of the 2012/13 campaign.

The male match officials are getting ready for assignments in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, as well as for matches in the closing stages of the FIFA World Cup qualifying competition in Europe. The summer gathering follows the UEFA winter courses earlier in the year, and the officials will be given detailed advice on various refereeing topics which will especially help them achieve uniformity in their decision-making in the coming campaign.

The meeting, in Geneva and at the House of European Football in Nyon, has become a traditional fixture on the UEFA calendar. From Monday to Wednesday, Top European male elite referees, male elite development and first-category referees, male assistant referees and women referees will be given guidance and invaluable advice from UEFA Referees' Committee members – who are themselves all former international referees with comprehensive experience of officiating at top-level matches.

With today's top referees needing to be trained athletes as well as managers of players and events on the field, the men and women referees will undergo a fitness check and test while in Nyon. UEFA is devoting considerable attention to the important role undertaken by assistant referees, and they will be take part in a practical session at the Colovray Stadium opposite UEFA's headquarters.

The female match officials will be undertaking a review of the recent UEFA Women's EURO 2013 in Sweden from a refereeing point of view. Women referees have joined their male counterparts at UEFA's courses for the first time this year – outlining the importance placed by the Referees Committee on ensuring that women refereeing standards continually progress in line with the constant development of women’s football.

Another item on the agenda is UEFA's successful deployment of additional assistant referees – two assistants who stand on each goal-line and watch in particular for penalty-area incidents – in various competitions.

Participants will look at the crucial teamwork between referees, assistants and, when deployed, additional assistant referees, and will be briefed on new offside stipulations introduced for this season. Video analysis will be used to demonstrate various issues, and the referees will split into working groups for some topics and hear feedback in plenary sessions.