Vitor Melo Pereira, former referee and leader in national and international refereeing launched a book, "Talent and Mentors Program", inspired from UEFA's ideals and practices, detailing a technical solution for football federations to elevate the training process for young referees. In the publication, already for sale in bookstores and on the main online platforms, he was able to analyze, on one hand, the mentors, selected by experience, who teach and prepare and, on the other hand, talents, who feel the potential that goes beyond training and technique. “To be a referee is to use the coldness of the rules in a burning world of emotions”, concluded Pereira.
Vitor Melo Pereira was born in Lisbon in 1957. At the age of 22, he started his career as a referee that lasted until 2002, with 13 years in the first national category and 11 years as an international referee, a status that led to the 1998 and 2002 World Cups and the 2000 European Championship. In 2008, he was recognized with the FIFA Special Award, a prize attributed to referees who have directed more than 25 games between national teams and who have excelled for exemplary behavior. As a leader, he held positions at the Portuguese Football Referees Association and at the Sports Confederation of Portugal. In 2002, at the recommendation of the Portuguese Football Federation, he was the first Portuguese to join the UEFA Referees Committee. He was chairman of the Referees Committees of the Portuguese Professional Football League and also of the European Professional Leagues. He was also president of the FPF Referees Committee, a position in which he introduced the Referee Academy project and devised the National Training Plan. In the international space, in 2016 he was invited to the presidency of the Independent Referees Committee of the Brazilian Football Confederation. In 2017, he was selected by UEFA to head the Referees Committee of the Greek Football Federation and, since January 2021, he has been chairman of the Referees Committee of the Czech Football Federation.
Source: FPF
