Uefa recently announced the new move: From now on, only the team captains can visit the referee after a decision has been drawn. Other players will receive a yellow card. – Then there will probably be a lot of yellow cards, says national team manager Ståle Solbakken when he asks news for a prediction. news confronts Uefa’s chief referee Roberto Rosetti with Solbakken’s point of view at his press conference in Munich 48 hours before the news-broadcast tournament starts in the same city. – On the contrary. Quite the contrary. The Italian pauses and stares at the journalists. He fences with his arms for every critical question. It is obviously important for him to disprove all skeptics in the room during the 30-minute question round. CRYSTAL CLEAR ANSWERS: A number of international media questioned the new Uefa rule. Chief referee Roberto Rosetti dismissed most of it with stoic composure. Photo: Sondre Skandsen / news – Look at the Meisterliga final we just had. Two yellow cards in the first half for protests. Then the players will understand where the list is. The second half was extremely well played and fair. – So you don’t fear an increase in yellow cards in the EC? – No, I know it will be opposed. I am sure of that. The players want this themselves, they are satisfied with the new rule, he says to news. The European Football Championship starts on Friday. You can watch the match between Germany and Scotland on TV 2 and right on news Sport. – Put one ear in and out the other Long-time elite series player Kristoffer Løkberg is a football expert for news. He has little faith that the players will be able to follow the rules from the start. – The team is presented with this before the tournament and probably seems understanding, but it goes straight in one ear and out the other. It’s boiling on the field, and then the referee’s meeting you had before the EC started is quickly forgotten. Rosetti is of a different opinion. – It is already stated in the rules. It’s very simple. Let the captains talk to the referee. Don’t surround him. Don’t misbehave. The players understand this, he says in front of the press corps in Munich. Robertson to news: – Can be positive news asks Scotland captain and Liverpool profile Andy Robertson about his judgment. – When players surround the referee, that is not the image we want for football. I think this can be positive, although I am sure there will be some discussions and problems around it, he says to news. ANSWERS news: Andy Robertson is more positive than both Ståle Solbakken and Kristoffer Løkberg. Photo: UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images – We are always open to change as long as it helps the game and is positive. And I think this can be positive for football. Of course, the other players must also respect that. Ilkay Gündogan, captain of Germany, gets the same question, but he is a little more skeptical. – I hope the judges understand that we are human beings with feelings too. Sometimes it has to be okay to react. There are small margins, and I hope they show empathy for us. – We all love football because of the feelings that go with it. I hope the judges continue to allow that. A NEW ERA: This is how Uefa’s chief referee predicts that the EC will be an example of. Here from the Meisterliga final on 1 June, which he refers to a number of times as a prime example of the new rule. Photo: Reuters – Unnaturally many yellow cards Both Solbakken and Løkberg think the potential of the rule is very good. But the latter has little faith that the players will be able to adapt to the new working day as quickly as Rosetti wishes. – Running to the referee, influencing him and exploiting everything that is in the gray zone is in the spinal cord of many players. A spinal reflex cannot change overnight. – At the start of the championship, I think we may see an unnatural number of yellow cards, precisely because of this here. I have no doubt that this will become visible to everyone who follows the matches. JUST NOT OVERNIGHT: Kristoffer Løkberg thinks it will be visible to the viewers at home that the players are struggling to adapt to the new weekday. Photo: Nicolai Trondal Rejects Solbakken’s claim Solbakken spoke to news before Rosetti’s meeting with the press. Then he also had other concerns: – As far as it goes, it is a fair change in the regulations. And in games one, two and three, that kind of thing always works well. Then it will perhaps become more relaxed as the consequences of yellow cards become greater. It will be exciting to see how it turns out in practice. Another thing Solbakken envisions is increased time consumption and stoppages in the game. – What I fear about it is that there will be too much talk. The captain must have an explanation. Then the captain comes to the opponents, then it’s just a chat. Rosetti will also be presented with this in Munich. – How do you respond to Ståle Solbakken’s prediction? – The pace is extremely important for the judges. Everyone knows that. And not least for the players at this level. I am absolutely certain that this championship will set the standard for a new era for how referees and players communicate. Published 14.06.2024, at 06.47
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