The “present” at her coaching conference Euroleague which took place in Glyfada gave, among others, the French referee of the event, Maddy Difala.
The 40-year-old referee spoke to NOVA camera, both for this season in Europe’s top interclub competition, and about whether he’s lost sleep over some mistake he’s made.
At the same time, he emphasized that it is not of philosophy to correct one of his mistakes with a second one which will favor the wronged team, since thus, they will have made two mistakes…
Mendy Difala’s statements in detail:
About the year and how it went: “It was a very good season, it had its ups and downs. We tried to make the best possible referees. We had some good ones, other times not. Coaches and players try to pressure us for the next whistles, to convince us that they are wronged. This is a strategy. They might think we’re the obstacles, but we’re just setting up the game.”
On whether he thinks star players are complaining more and more now: “I would say it’s becoming more and more common now. They are trying to put pressure on us, to blame the referees for their mistakes. We are human we make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes, footballers make mistakes, we make mistakes too, we are not perfect.
The difference is that they have access to the press, they can express themselves in press conferences, we don’t have that access. We understand that we are under pressure because they in turn are under pressure and trying to cover up their own mistakes. We try to be as good as they can be, all the referees are constantly working to get better.”
On whether he has lost sleep over a mistake: “For sure. It happens to all of us. Sometimes we are in the right place, physically we are where we should be, but not spiritually. It’s happened to me and I’m trying to make sure it doesn’t happen again this season. Every time I make a mistake I try to figure out what’s wrong. I don’t know the rule, I didn’t have a good field of vision. There are many reasons you can go wrong.”
On whether he and the referees have the mentality to compensate for the mistakes they make: “If I make one mistake for whatever reason, I won’t make another mistake to make up for it, because then I’ll have made two mistakes. I’d rather have one mistake than two. Sometimes I’ll talk to a coach and he’ll tell me you made that mistake and I’ll apologize to him and try not to make a mistake.”
About what he thinks when he comes to Greece: “When I come to Greece I am happy. You have very nice people and usually good weather. I have no problem with any team and any country. I don’t have a personal relationship with anyone. Everything is fine, I have the addresses of some very nice shops and I’m having a fantastic time.”
Source: Sport Fm
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