The Premier League have employed eye doctor Sherylle Calder to help referees see incidents more clearly, the Sun have reported. Six top referees and four assistant referees will be trained with an advanced version of her ‘EyeGym’ training program.
The South African has worked with Rugby Union officials, and was described by England coach Eddie Jones as the "X factor". She said: “We work on many things, including making effective decisions under pressure - and that’s exactly what these guys are doing on a consistent basis. "It’s tough work. They have to be able to see correctly and make sure their decision is effective. With the linesmen, that offside call is so critical and you have to see it so quickly. That’s exactly what we’re training with those guys. When I met with them, I asked, ‘How do you train this ability?’ They said, ‘During a match’. But you have to practise any skill and prepare to perform under pressure. They all can improve their ability, which is exciting. We’ve been monitoring them and are in touch with them all the time. We know how many minutes they have trained, we see them do a warm-up on the day they officiate. They’ve been great.” Simon Breivik, head of sports science for refs’ body PGMOL, added: “Anything that can potentially improve their vision and focus has to be of benefit. With 22 players on the field, there is a lot of action taking place around the referee at any one time that he needs to be aware of. Some of the guys feel it really improves their attention and focus and want to bring the laptops with them on match day to prepare. Use of technology is prohibited for an hour before kick-off, so we need to think carefully how we might do that”.
