Here's what any WTF International Referee should know

The WTF Referee Committee and Referee Division have developed a program which has helped the refereeing activity to become more professional and solid in the last years in order to provide transparency and facilitate the referee´s work on the mat, just with the objective to let athletes and coaches be the stars on the mat and show their best performances.

We will present you on what the WTF Referee Committee is focused.

Led by Chakir Chelbat, the WTF Referee Committee has also many counselors, vice-presidents and members who constantly discuss and develop the WTF educational program for referees.

The WTF Referee Education Program extends to the five continents where International Referee Courses and International Refreshment Referee Courses are carried out every year.

What are the basic aspects considered to be a WTF International Referee?

• Attitude, personality, and behavior

• Fundamental knowledge and skills

• Competition Rules

• Physical conditioning

• Match management skills

• Transparency and fair play

What should I know about penalties and consistency?

• Crossing the boundary line

• Attacking below the waist

• Avoiding or delaying the match

• Inactivity (5/10 sec)

• Lifting the knee

• Falling down

• Grabbing, holding, pushing

• Attacking after Kal-Yeo

• Intentionally avoiding the match

What are the critical situations which an International Referee may face in a match?

• Scoring by Corner Judge and Protector Scoring System

• Suspension of the match

• Instant Video Replay

• Protector Scoring System (PSS)

• Knock down / out / standing

• Emergency situation

• Sudden Death (Golden point)

• Superiority

What assignments should a referee should do in an event?

• Corner Judge

• Center Referee

• Technical Assistant

• Inspection Desk

• Review Jury

What should a referee practice?

• Points to the body.

• Points turning kick / spinning kick

• Points head kick

• Points turning kick to the head

• Scoring (practical)

• March-in / March out

• Hand signals / competition area

Mr. Chelbat has implemented a system to determine the referees who will judge a match, something that over the years was necessary in order to avoid the controversy arisen in the past and led to misinterpret the assignation of a referee to a certain combat area who would favor an athlete or a nation.

With this new software, transparency and fair play are two cornerstones that prevail for the selection of referees. The computer system selects and displays on the screen on a random basis the group of referees who will be in charge of a certain match. After checking the results, if Mr. Chelbat considers there is a solid reason, (e.g. religion, region or country) for changing the group of referees, he only clicks again and the system produces a new group of referees.

This program also allows to check the assignment each referee has accomplished throughout the event, for example how many times he has been Central Judge, Corner Referee, Video Replay, etc. and additionally how much time he/she has been inactive. In this way, the referees are given enough time to rest in order not to interfere with their performance. For the final matches, the assignation is carried out taking into account the performance of each referee.

The computer system records all the matches and if an error occurs, the referee is called for a meeting to show him the error so it does not happen again in the future.

MasTaekwondo.com brings you the details of this important educational program for you to understand the insight of this essential commission.