Collaboration with Referee Abroad and Spintso

Referee Abroad and Spintso are proud to announce their collaboration, aimed at connecting referees all over the world and provide them with products. Over the years 2023-2025, the two organizations will work together to provide referees with the tools they need to succeed in their careers. Referees will be able to connect and communicate with each other, sharing information and get the chance to try out Communication Equipment from Spintso. This collaboration is a major step forward for the refereeing community, and both Referee Abroad and Spintso are thrilled to be a part of it. The two organizations are confident that this partnership will make a positive impact on referees' lives and careers, and they are happy to help create a brighter future for referees everywhere. We asked the CEO of Referee Abroad, Daniele Curcio about the collaboration.

– Hi Daniele. How does Referee Abroad benefits with a collaboration together with Spintso?

– Referee Abroad and Spintso are two of the world's biggest referee organizations. Even if we focus on two different aspects of refereeing, we both have referee development at heart and as one of the core principles on which we base our mission. As such cooperating together is just natural, benefits both and more importantly, supports all our referees. 


– Can you tell us more about Referee Abroad?

– Referee Abroad is the world's largest international referee organization besides FIFA and focuses on the international exchange of referees, offering them the possibility of travelling around the world doing what they love. We believe that refereeing in a foreign country is an important experience in the career of a referee and being able to do so when still young, before reaching FIFA status, supports up-and-coming officials and is crucial in their development not only as match officials, but also as people. Some people have described us as the "Erasmus project" of refereeing, and we think this perfectly describes what we do. Currently we cooperate with more than 40 international tournaments around the world, in 20 different countries. Every year more than 1000 referees travel with Referee Abroad around the world, and we have had referees from 75 different countries over the years. 


– How is the year 2023 looking for Referee Abroad? Any news?

– After a complicated period during covid, with international travel heavily restricted, we restarted our activities in 2022, with tournaments all around Europe. In 2023 we will grow more, even surpassing the number of tournaments and referees we had in the last "normal" year before covid. 48 tournaments is a record number for Referee Abroad and we are adding new countries where referees can travel to. In January we celebrated our first ever tournaments in Mexico and Egypt and in May we will start with our first ever tournament in Italy, near Rome. We are also focusing on offering an even better experience at our flagship tournaments such as the Ibercup and Paris World Games, where we will have a record number of referee coaches and observers (or, as we call them, developers) who will support all those referees who see Referee Abroad as a great opportunity for their development. We will also have new tournaments in Belgium, Croatia and Czechia and we are looking forward to signing official partnerships with a number of federations around the world, who will send their most promising referees to our tournaments. It will be a great year. 


– Where do you have your biggest tournaments and where do you especially need referees?

– Our biggest tournaments will be, as usual, in Portugal, Spain and France. Both the IberCup Estoril and the Paris World Games will need around 100 referees, with the IberCup Andalucia not much behind. Every tournament needs referees though, and referees can choose the tournaments that better suit their schedule, interests and needs.


– If a referee reads this interview. Why should he or she apply for going refereeing with Referee Abroad?

– A fantastic development experience that will allow you to become a better referee while, at the same time, meeting and making friends for life with referees from all around the world. And all because you can blow a whistle :) 


– Thanks for this Daniele! Looking forward to this collaboration!

– Thank you Spintso. Looking forward to this! And to all referees, come explore your refereeing world. 

Read more about Referee Abroad here: Referee Abroad Webpage