François Letexier was elected the best referee of last summer's European Championship in Germany and was given the sixth edition of the "Giulio Campanati" award named after the "Presidentissimo", head of the AIA from 1972 to 1990.
La Gazzetta met him before the ceremony, at the hotel, where he spoke about his emotions. The result was a chat in which the French referee explained what refereeing means to him, how he started and what he feels when the VAR comes into play. Fear of being corrected? The opposite... For him, technology is a parachute and allows him to avoid the sleepless nights he spent in the past thinking about the mistakes he made.
- What was your first feeling when you were told you had won the Campanati award?
- It was a great honor for three reasons: because it was a consequence of what I had done at the European Championship along with my team, for the importance of the award and because in the past this recognition has been awarded to great referees.
- From Collina to Rizzoli, passing through Rosetti, Rocchi and Orsato: Italy is a land of great referees. Have any of our referees inspired you during your career?
- I will be honest: there is no particular referee who inspired me. We, referees, watch matches with special eyes, not like fans: we focus on the referee, on his position, on how close he is to the action and on his body language. My source of inspiration when I was little were all the great referees of the Champions League".
- Was the young Letexier also a football player?
- Yes, I played for 4-5 years, but then I had the opportunity to start refereeing when I was 14. It was something I immediately liked.
- What was your parents' first reaction?
- They encouraged me. When I explained to them that I had the opportunity to try refereeing, they supported me. I thought I would change again after a year and instead, after twenty years, here I am... still with the whistle.
- Have there ever been difficult moments in which you thought about giving up refereeing?
- The first year I was close because I was naturally shy and not very extroverted. The first year was difficult and the decision I was about to make was not the result of the behavior of others, but of my character: I was fighting against myself and it was difficult. But then I found the strength to continue facing difficult moments: that's how someone become stronger. Refereeing made me grow as a man.
- In what sense?
- A referee on the field must make, in a few moments, difficult decisions. For everyday life this is an... important training, which makes you grow. In addition, refereeing helped me to relate to adults: when I was 14, 15 or 16 years old I had to have relationships with the coaches, not be influenced by the public and above all enforce the rules. All this gives you strength, courage and self-confidence because in life only by refereeing do you have the possibility, at that age, to make decisions regarding adults.
- When you started to referee, what was your goal?
- First of all, when you are a referee, you are a sportsman because a referee runs 12-13 kilometers during a match. You have to be in shape to do that. My goal was to improve match after match and try to get as high as possible. I had dreams and I did everything to achieve them.
- Being given the award at San Siro, the Scala of football, is it an added satisfaction?
- I had already been here last Champions League for Inter-Salzburg: it is a very beautiful stadium.
- In Italy, but not only, the VAR is in the crosshairs of critics. As a referee, what do you think about it?
- For us it is a useful tool. Philosophically, it has not changed our way of refereeing because even before the introduction of the VAR we always did our best to manage a match well and to make the right decisions, but if we made a mistake on the pitch, that remained. Do you know how many bad nights I spent thinking about the wrong decisions I had made? Now the entire world of referees knows they have behind them a… golden parachute that can correct situations not evaluated in the right way. It's all very different than before.
- So, being corrected by video is not a problem?
- I prefer that the final score is not negatively influenced by my mistake rather than making a mistake.
- But not even the VAR is perfect: in Italy the controversy is raging and on the last day Udinese protested for a penalty not awarded in Bergamo and Napoli for a penalty awarded against them.
- Statistics say that the VAR corrects 75-80% of errors, which means that 8 out of 10 decisions are changed from wrong to correct. Without the VAR, errors were more frequent. Paradoxically, however, people's tolerance was higher before than now. In fact, now the tolerance is too low, almost zero, because people think that the VAR can eliminate errors completely. Unfortunately, it is not possible
- Why?
- Football is not a 'black or white' sport and there will always be room for interpretation because there is a grey area in the rules that is left to the interpretation of the referee who is on the pitch. A physical contact in the penalty area is not considered the same by everyone and it is up to the referee to evaluate the intensity of the contact. The VAR cannot decide, says the protocol. Football is not an exact science: it is a sport played and refereed by human beings who react to situations and have emotions. Otherwise, it is right to think of football played by robots, refereed by robots and watched by robots in the stands. If that is what people want, ok. But I don't think so.
- In Italy, at the end of each matchday, Rocchi or one of his trusted men explains the most controversial episodes of the day live on Dazn. Is it a good way to "educate" people?
- I have never seen the broadcast and I cannot comment on it. However, in France too, the mentality is open and the input is to communicate with people as much as possible to explain and ensure that the rules are understood. Teaching the rules is the best way to make our decisions accepted.
- Are you in favour of post-match press conferences for referees?
- It is difficult to give a common line to all European countries because each has its own culture and it is impossible to say whether it is right for referees to speak or not. In France, for example, we referees can go before the media after the end of the match to explain our decisions. There must be a request from the journalists to the referees' committee and then I, as the match referee, can accept or decline the meeting with the press.
- Have you done it?
- Of course. I went before the media and explained the facts, why I made that decision. The considerations are only technical. Of course, when I was called it was because my decision was considered wrong, according to the media. When I had the chance to speak at the end of the match, I always did it to explain the facts, not to convince someone that I was right.
- As a referee, has it ever happened to you to leave the pitch and say... 'I had a perfect match'?
- The perfect match does not exist. If you ask me about a match that I still remember, I say the final of the last European Championship: on an emotional level, refereeing it was both beautiful and very difficult at the same time.
- In Italy, there was a lot of controversy over the Inter-Napoli episode because not everyone understands when the VAR can intervene in the case of contacts that seem slight but are punished with a penalty.
- There is a grey area in the protocol that leaves the interpretation of the incidents to the referee, but the protocol is the same throughout Europe and is applied in the same way. The VAR can intervene in the event of a clear and obvious error: that is what the protocol says and we referees respect it. In situations where the VAR does not consider the decision taken by the referee to be a clear and obvious error, the decision taken on the pitch is confirmed. Applying the protocol is the only way to have the same way of refereeing in all countries, without being influenced by the championship, the name of the teams, the players, how many people are in a stadium.
- Are you in favor of the Video Support, the VAR called from the benches?
- I read the articles that said that the testing of the Video Support would be increased in the lower category matches. I believe that the 'challenge' is not a substitute for the VAR and, even if I have never seen this option of the challenge put into practice, I think any innovation that helps eliminate errors on the pitch is right.
