Referees to enter pre-match camp before Carioca semi-finals | OneFootball

Referees for the Campeonato Carioca semi-finals will only be appointed on Thursday by DEAF-RJ, but the federation has ordered full officiating teams to enter a pre-match camp the day before Vasco x Fluminense and Flamengo x Madureira, Globo.com reports.

A total of 22 officials, 11 for each match including on-field referees, VAR, instructors and refereeing managers, will report on Saturday morning to Saferj’s training centre in Guaratiba, in the city’s West Zone. They will remain there until early Sunday afternoon, then travel directly to the stadiums. Vasco x Fluminense is scheduled for 18:00 at Nilton Santos, and Flamengo x Madureira for 20:30 at the Maracanã, Brasília time.

The camp forms part of the federation’s ongoing investment, education and preparation programme. It is intended to align decision-making criteria and raise standards for the decisive fixtures.

The schedule includes activation drills centred on decision-making, balance and mobility work, video analysis using Fifa concepts, VAR protocol and intervention line refreshers, and a technical meeting to define match strategies.

Rio de Janeiro pioneered referee camps in Brazil in 2009 and has used them in recent years. The same approach will be repeated for the return legs next weekend, and again before the final on seven or eight March.

Source: Globo.com