CBF hosts pre-season camp for promising referees | OneFootball

The Arbitration Commission (CA) of the CBF is promoting the Pre-Season for Promising Referees until Friday (13th). The event gathers 66 referees and assistants from all over Brazil, along with eight instructors. The seminar includes practical activities at the VAR Center and on the field of the Aeronautics Club (CAER), as well as theoretical sessions in an auditorium, aiming to align criteria in arbitration decisions.

Selected based on performance analysis in state championships and on-site evaluations conducted in regional seminars of the Refereeing Without Borders project, which has already passed through 14 federations, the participants mainly officiate in matches of Series B and C of the Brasileirão.

The aim of the activity is that, over a week of theoretical and physical training, participants receive the same qualification as the Serie A referees, recently professionalized by the CBF, ensuring the same level of understanding and application of the rules, as well as game control concepts.

Pre-season included activities at the VAR CenterCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

“With this, we manage to bring everyone to the same level and, from here, these promising referees can start officiating more frequently in Serie B and, who knows, debut in Serie A still in 2026,” said the president of the CA of the CBF, Rodrigo Cintra.

At the VAR Center, video referees divide into booths to train, in teams, with exercises using real game footage, developed to enhance analyses and communication with field referees. “VAR cannot induce the referee, but ensure that, on the way to the booth, he receives the best information for the final decision after analyzing the footage,” explained Cintra.

For field referees and assistants, the work begins at the Aeronautics Club. In the physical part, coordinated by sports scientist Emerson Filippino, a member of the CA of the CBF, there are two stands: one for evaluation and monitoring and another for physical tests.

Emerson Filippino (in green), sports scientist of the Arbitration Commission, is responsible for the physical programmingCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

The physical preparation also included specific training conducted by physical trainer Thiago Brites. “There were three days of intense training, with load control. On the first day, we worked on motor coordination; on the second, we increased the load with plyometric exercises and short changes of direction, which are specific demands of refereeing; and on the third, we focused on anaerobic and aerobic endurance,” he explained. According to Brites, GPS monitoring allows tracking metrics of intensity and displacement volume during activities. “We can observe, for example, the total volume of the training, which reached about 8 km, in addition to the intensity zones in which the referee works, which helps control the load and ensure they meet the physical demands of the current game,” he stated.

For assistant Luís Filipe Gonçalves, from Paraíba, detailed monitoring and the use of technology are fundamental for the evolution of refereeing. “The importance is to unify training throughout Brazil. This allows us to plan and put into practice what the instructors ask, facilitating our evolution within refereeing,” he said. According to him, technology allows instructors to follow the work even from a distance. “Even training in my state, Paraíba, the instructor can observe the execution of the training in real-time and send adjustments, workouts, and spreadsheets so that everyone works in the same way and with the same intensity,” he added.

Assistant Luís Filipe, from the Paraíba Football Federation, was one of the participantsCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

By analyzing the data of each professional, Filippino highlights the use of technology as an ally of refereeing. Therefore, the group of professionalized referees will receive smartwatches from the CBF for physical monitoring, in an unprecedented investment by the entity in the qualification of refereeing.

“With technology, we can track indicators such as body mass, fat percentage, flexibility, and other physical-motor data. At the end of the tests, we conducted a study comparing the indicators of promising referees with those of the PRO group and found that the physical and motor levels are similar,” said Filippino.

Meanwhile, on the CAER field, referees and assistants participate in practical exercises during the training match between América and 7 de Abril. “Here we make fine adjustments because high-level refereeing is made of small details. After the activity, they receive immediate feedback to correct specific points. Throughout the week, they return to the field and can already apply these guidelines to improve performance,” explained Cintra.

Rodrigo Cintra, president of the Arbitration Commission of the CBFCredits: Junior Souza / CBF

In the afternoon, participants proceed to activities in the auditorium at the hotel where they are staying. There, they analyze key moments from Brazilian and international football, such as handballs, expulsions, and offsides. Each moment is shown twice, the referees answer a questionnaire with their decision, and then the answers are debated with the instructors.

Referee Deborah Cecilia, from Pernambuco, praised the initiative of the CA of the CBF for the qualification and renewal of Brazilian refereeing. “What football expects is fairness above convenience, and initiatives like this help us learn and improve. With analyses like these, we get closer to what is expected from refereeing,” she stated.

Deborah Cecilia during the theoretical part of the trainingCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

During the event, assistants Juarez de Mello (Rio Grande do Sul) and Thayse Marques (Rio de Janeiro) received special news: their first assignment for a Serie A match.

Thayse Marques was assigned for the first time to a Serie A matchCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

“It's a unique feeling. After years of dedication in my federation and at the CBF, I am extremely grateful to the Commission for all the work they have been doing with the referees. This is very important for all of us,” said Thayse.

“I was very happy and grateful for the assignment. I have been fighting for this for over 13 years. Now it's about doing justice to the scale and performing well. It's impossible not to feel butterflies in the stomach, but when the time comes, I will be focused on doing a good job,” concluded Juarez.

Juarez de Mello (in the background) will be an assistant in the match between Coritiba and Remo, at Couto PereiraCredits: Rafael Ribeiro / CBF

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.