Women referees warm up for summer assignments

European women referees and assistant referees gather in Nyon this week to prepare for upcoming assignments and receive invaluable advice on taking charge of games in the various women's championships.

The seventh UEFA course for international women referees will see UEFA Referees Committee members and UEFA fitness instructors on hand to give essential advice to the match officials in both discussions and fitness sessions.

The course will also serve as a selection process for two women's competitions this summer – the UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship and its U19 equivalent.

Nineteen new FIFA referees and 14 assistant referees are coming to UEFA headquarters for the course, and will be asked to demonstrate their fitness to officiate at international women's matches, given the constant increase in fitness demands as the female game continues to move forward.

The participants and UEFA officials will also discuss experiences from earlier UEFA tournaments – in particular, the meetings held between referees and teams participating in European final rounds, in which players have been appraised of the policy of the match officials throughout the tournament and made aware of their responsibilities.