Referee bosses are hoping a film about a family of trailblazing officials will pave the way for future generations.
Premier League Stories: A Refereeing Legacy is about former EFL referee Jarnail Singh and his two sons Bhupinder and Sunny Singh Gill. The PGMOL have set up a new development programme which currently has 28 officials and 30 percent of them are from a non-white heritage which is part of their drive to encourage greater diversity among referees.
The programme has already offered well over 150 new opportunities to officiate at a higher level with the challenge to perform and then get more chances.
Bhupinder made history after becoming the first Sikh ever to act as an assistant referee in the Premier League for Southampton’s game with Nottingham Forest last month and was also on duty for Fulham’s win over Forest last weekend.
Sunny, who now balances his time as a part time prison officer with his refereeing career, was also promoted to the National Group of Referees last year. Sunny said: “I started refereeing because of my dad. Would I be doing it, if he hadn’t? No way, no chance.”
Jarnail, the first turbaned referee in the history of English league, was born in India, grew up in Wolverhampton and his experience in taking over 150 games in the EFL has inspired his sons. He said: “It’s always been a case of how far can they go? You don’t reach that level without commitment.”
It is an inspiring film which was first shown on Amazon this week and Sky are also running it with the Premier League and the PGMOL hoping it will help encourage greater diversity among officials.
Medical forum into burnout organised
A medical forum about burnout among players has been organised for next month.
The Football Medicine and Performance Association has organised the “burnout and wellbeing conference” for March 6. It comes as more players struggle with fitness and form since the World Cup and the intensity of this season.
Several clubs have already held sessions with players to discuss whether they have felt a knock-on effect after the midseason tournament in Qatar.
Southampton’s sports psychologist Amy Spencer, mental health expert Dr Tim Rogers and Lioness legend Karen Carney are among the speakers.
Crystal Palace join Rio Ferdinand app
Crystal Palace have joined the new “hate-free” social media platform WeAre8 which is backed by Rio Ferdinand in an effort to stop online abuse.
Palace chairman Steve Parish said: ““It's well documented that professional footballers are often subjected to abuse and racist comments on other well established social media platforms.
“So it’s great to finally see a social media company taking an innovative stand against this widespread abuse by creating a platform that promises to be hate-free.”
Howard Webb call VAR victims personally
Referees’ boss Howard Webb has been in the news after some controversial refereeing and VAR decisions this week.
Webb takes it upon himself personally to ring clubs who have been on the wrong end and his conversations are generally with the manager and he did speak directly to Mikel Arteta after Arsenal were on the wrong end of a VAR gaffe.
Ex-Prem ref has been to see at least half of the clubs since taking over at the turn of the year and that made a genuine difference as at the latest shareholders’ meeting the vibe was generally good because of a greater transparency.
Nou Camp renovation set to take longer than planned
The Nou Camp is one of the most iconic stadiums in world football and not only hosts Barcelona home matches but thousands of tourists every day.
Barcelona have already announced the stadium will undergo a huge revamp and they all play at the city’s Olympic Stadium in 2023/24. But considering the huge amount of work to be undertaken in the Nou Camp, it seems increasingly likely that it may even be for longer.
Real Madrid were able to do a staggered rebuild, the San Siro is crumbling and AC Milan have made plans to move which perhaps just underlines the huge task ahead facing Chelsea and Stamford Bridge.
However, despite the frequent complaints about the growing dominance of the Premier League, it should not be forgotten that both Chelsea and Tottenham lost Champions League games to Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan this week.
Premier League club's kit man
One Premier League club has such a lucrative clothing contract with one famous brand that it employs one person whose sole job it is on a match day to make sure the clothing is laid out correctly.
Carabao Cup alive and kicking
Anyone who needs reminding about the importance of the Carabao Cup just needs to remember this season’s competition.
Newcastle and Manchester United will battle it out at a sold-out Wembley and the stadium could have been sold out several times over.
The trophy also provides much needed cash for EFL clubs because of the revenue it drives and this year’s glamour final will produce yet another winner from among the big clubs who supposedly do not take it seriously.
