A comparison of management policies for referee appointments in European men’s football

Abstract

Abstract Purpose/Rationale: Referee appointments to football fixtures are made behind closed doors and only a handful of people in respective committees fully know what the policies governing these appointments are. Said appointment criteria include referees’ performances in recent matches but performance information such as the merit tables in the English Premier League are not open to the public. We investigate what the underlying management policies are in the highest football divisions in European men’s football. Design/Methodology/Approach: To uncover the underlying appointment policies, we conduct a statistical analysis of the central referee appointments in several European men’s leagues in the five seasons from 2017 to 2022. Findings: While we point out differences among the investigated leagues including the ‘Big Five, our analysis also shows that the officials may often be influenced by public opinions when taking those decisions. Practical implications: A uniform appointment policy such as the one applied in La Liga can be more beneficial for referee development and fairness. Research contribution: This research identifies differences in the appointment policies of various European men’s football leagues. Furthermore, a uniform appointment policy is suggested as a more useful appointment policy.