Nikolai Levnikov, chairman of the Referees and Inspection Committee of the RFU, commented on the results of its work and the prospects of Russian football refereeing. According to the new arrangement of football refereeing, executive functions will be fulfilled by the Department of Refereeing and Inspection. Moreover, due to UEFA requirements, an expert analytical commission was established in which four experts will judge any episode of any match, consider ambiguous situations, and assess a referee’s work. The Commission decides whether to appoint a referee for the next match or, for example, to exclude him from refereeing in the Premier League.
In 2018 Russia will host the World Cup. Prior to that, the task of the Russian Football Union is to increase the number of referees capable of adjudicating matches at any level. In the foreground is the quality of the refereeing, also new cadres in the regions are needed. The RFU has adopted a new strategy for the development of refereeing, and the referees' committee is responsible for the training of new referees in the regions. Currently the task is to increase competition among its members and to ensure that one referee adjudicates for no more than four games of the same club in one season. Also, the Russian Football Union has accepted and prepared a number of documents: the Code of Discipline of referees and Inspectors to regulate behaviour beyond the football field, the document on the rotation of referees and inspectors, depending on the quality of refereeing, and a document on the procedure for appointing arbitrators, depending on the quality of refereeing.
