An interview with Pier-Luigi Collina

On Friday he turns 44, and he's done every game a referee can do: from a World Cup final to an Olympic final with the Champions in between, nobody disputes that he's Number 1.


Dateline Madrid. His duties make him arrive a couple of hours late to the interview. He apologizes. He appears tired. He's been on his feet for 12 hours and has done three days of intensive courses. As his Spanish is better than our Italian, he agrees to conduct the conversation in our language.
Q - Why did you become a referee instead of a doctor, lawyer, or soccer player?
A - Why did you become a journalist instead of a doctor, lawyer, or engineer?
Q - Journalism is a "vocational" profession [i.e. a way to make a living], like the others, but you find very few children who say they want to be a referee when they grow up.
A - When I was 17, a schoolmate (Fausto Capuano) got me to try it. At that age, you don't think that what you're doing will be for the rest of your life, that it will end up being your future. You do things to get life experience. I very much enjoyed the first time. The older refs told me I was good. And that's how it's been, up to this very day.
Q - But it's hard to understand being committed to being a referee.
A - People don't know or don't understand what a referee can feel. If they knew us better, if they knew what we feel when we're reffing, they could understand our behavior better. You can mature and improve more as a person by being a ref than by other experiences. What's important is to be convinced that what you're doing is important, and I've dedicated myself, totally convinced of the importance [of what I've done].
Q - You also tried reffing because you weren't a good player ...
A - Sure, if I'd been a top-level player, I'd have been a player instead of a referee, that's natural. I started out playing soccer, and changed [to reffing] because it was a new experience. I played in the middle and got to my maximum level. I still play today, with friends. We have a team of refs, we play for charity and draw 25-30,000 people. It's an important way to help our fellow man.
Q - Do you remember your first time?
A - That was such a long time ago. For a new ref just starting out, the hardest part is to see the foul and call it. It's not automatic. It's possible for you to see the foul, but it never occurs to you to make the call.
Q - When did you know that you wanted to become a professional referee?
A - It's hard to say exactly. If I've kept at it, it's because I like my job. When I was 17, I never imagined that I'd be giving an interview to a Spanish newspaper, for example. Every year I set goals for myself to improve and get to a higher level.
Q - How does it feel to be the referee that everyone looks up to, the leader?
A - I don't consider myself a leader. I hope that, in spite of me, people can recognize what referees do, because people always talk about us without knowing us, or knowing us only by what we do for the 90 minutes of a game. And that part of us isn't the whole thing. There's an important part outside, before and after the game. People don't realize that for kids to play soccer you have to have a referee. When the kids play they're sharing things with each other. It's a way to learn teamwork, and that's what they'll be doing in their futures. Only one child out of 100,000 gets to the top professional level; the rest will be satisfied with just playing soccer for fun. And there are referees who help this last group to play just to play. Because to get up at 7 AM on Sunday and go ref a game in the rain and cold... And if they do it, it's because they want to help others so they can play. When I hear somebody say that the referee is a necessary evil, I say, "Why?". That characterization seems stupid, illogical and absurd to me.
Q - But referees, at least in Spain, hide inside their shells, they don't let themselves talk or express their feelings, they're always defensive...
A - Refereeing isn't like going fishing, to relax. We work very hard all week. We do things that few people are aware of. We attend classes that start at 8 AM and finish at 8 PM, with a one hour meal break. We talk about game situations, study films of our last games... We prepare ourselves every day both physically and mentally.
Q - Do you have fun during a game?
A - You're concentrating so hard that you can't enjoy what you're watching. It could be that at the end of the game you don't remember who scored a goal, because you don't care. For me it's more important that everything turns out well, that I don't make mistakes.
Q - And if you're next to Zidane and he makes a play like the one in Valladolid...
A - You might look, but you don't keep your eyes on it. The objective is to remain focused and to control the game.
Q - Seeing you referee a game produces the impression of total calmness, that you have everything under control, that you're not nervous...
A - Yes, that I go unnoticed... Well, that's something I don't agree with. I don't agree that the best referee is invisible. That seems illogical and incorrect to me. If you call two PKs in a game, you're not invisible. Everyone sees what you're doing. The best ref isn't invisible, but instead is the one who has the courage to make difficult decisions. If the score is tied at zeros with a minute left and you decide to call a PK, it's a decision that makes you a big part of the outcome.
Q - They tell me that in Italy you're argued about more that in Spain or England, that you're not appreciated in your own country...
A - (Laughs) Yes, how do you say it in Spanish? The grass is always greener on the other side. I don't believe that that happens to me. Out of seven seasons, in five of them I was voted the best referee by the Italian League players.
Q - Sooner or later you're going to have to retire because of your age.
A - That's not news. Better not to talk about it.
Q - Do you watch soccer only as a referee, or as a fan?
A - No. It depends. If it's a game between teams that I might ref in the near future, I watch it from the standpoint of work. It helps me prepare. If it's between teams that I'll never ref I watch more as a fan. I enjoy watching soccer that way.
Q - If it's Madrid, Bayern, Manchester... what do you concentrate on?
A - On the manner of play, the tactics, the players' characteristics and attitudes, their actions, their strengths... It's important to be familiar with their play. For instance, a left-footed player playing on the left side normally will go to the goal line and center it; if he is playing on the right, usually he'll head toward the center of the field. Another example: if there are players who play well with the ball at their feet, if they're fast and look to go around an opponent... they're different from the physical players, who usually are looking to make a hit... If there's a good keeper kicking it long, you have to be well positioned because they can mount a counterattack in a second... Those are characteristics that you have to be aware of. If a team is offside you should know it.
Q - Come on, when you retire you could be a coach [trainer],
A - No, no. It's different. I'm not interested in managing a team, which is what a coach does all week long. I have to know some things since it's related to my work. If a team plays with 3 defenders and one plays deeper; if another team presses closely at midfield. Nobody helps me, but I don't spend all day glued to the TV either. When I know my assignment for a game that I'll work in 15 or 20 days, I get into it. Like I had to ref the rematch between Norway and Spain, it was important for me to see the game in Valencia.
Q - We've never heard the Spanish referees say what's important.
A - If you talk to them, I'm sure they do the same thing. Or they should being doing it. I'm sure, because it's a way of preparing for a game. I can blow a call, that's normal, because everyone makes mistakes. They players practice all week and they make mistakes; same with the coaches, but what's most important is that I'm prepared and that I can look myself in the mirror at the end of the game.
Q - Three attributes that all referees should have.
A - Courage, enjoy the work, and always look forward and never back.
Q - And three attributes that they should never have.
A - It's enough to do those three well.
Q - Do you review the games you've done?
A - It's part of my preparation, not just before the game. It's normal to make mistakes, but afterwards you have to know or understand why you did it on the field. What was missing in your preparation. When you do things well, you have to forget it quickly and look ahead. When you do poorly you also have to forget it, but not as quickly because first you have to understand why you did poorly. That helps you a lot.
Q - Which aspect is most helpful for your preparation?
A - It's very personal... Possibly, the way I'm told about my mistakes when I screw up.
Q - The next day [after a game], you don't feel like going back to work.
A - Sometimes not, it's a problem to lead a normal life.

(Translated from Planet Futbol.)