According to the general secretary of the Swedish Football Association, there have been more personal problems than average in the referee function.
Football Association general secretary Marco Casagrande also sees a good side in the shortcomings of refereeing that bring negative publicity to the union. According to him, it is good that people dare to tell about things.
Those interviewed in Wednesday's Helsingin Sanomat told numerous examples of the inappropriate operating culture prevailing in the refereeing activities of the Finnish Football Association. Those interviewed talked about abuse of power, bullying, discrimination, gender inequality, pressure to use alcohol and sexual harassment.
According to those interviewed, the former elite referees have been responsible for the inappropriate operating culture Jouni Hyytä, Petteri Kari and Matthias Gestranius. Kari and Gestranius are in a position in the union's referee function, where they can influence the referees' duties.
Last fall, the Football Association made a decision to investigate suspected improprieties in more detail, and therefore the association's internal audit has conducted an investigation into the referee function.
Marco Casagrande, to what extent have you and the Football Association been aware of and for how long these cases that have caused conflicts in refereeing and experiences of unfair treatment?
“The internal audit regularly carries out inspections three to four times a year. We deal with the issues they define, and in this case we made the decision to delve into this topic in order to have as good a picture as possible.”
What kind of responsibility do you feel for the fact that there has been an activity under your command that seems inappropriate, and according to many interviewees, it is?
“It is my responsibility to make sure that we clear things up if we detect inappropriate behavior. Of course, we give all parties the opportunity to express their views and intervene if necessary. The good thing is that we have the structures to intervene. We have a reporting channel whose reports are processed by the group responsible for it. After that, we can take matters to the authorities or take work management measures. It's good that people dare to say things, and then we try to intervene in inappropriate activities.”
How do you comment on the fact that, according to numerous interviewees, gender inequality has been one of the big problems?
“It shouldn't be reflected in our education. Mattias Gestranius is responsible for the entire training of international referees, both men and women. I am not aware of individual cases.”
How do you see how the existing structures of the Football Association's refereeing function can contribute to the creation of a concentrated use of power that can be misused?
“Good question. In the internal audit, we hope to get more information about the referee committee, whose role we may change. It is an independent body regulated by UEFA, the European football confederation, which makes decisions on referee placements for matches and various competitions. Those layouts evoke emotions. We are aware that there have been criticisms of that operating model. The operation of that institution is also monitored, and there is certainly room for improvement.”
“The referees have heard the argument that the operation is not transparent. As far as I understand, the lack of transparency is related to the reasons for the choices. Is it possible anymore today that choices are not justified. Maybe I would like to change that myself.”
According to the editorial information, Mattias Gestranius, who is suspected of improper activity, has tried to get top referees to support him in exchange for defending him. What do you think of him asking this of the people whose job duties he is influencing?
“I am hearing about this for the first time. I don't know if Gestranius has approached some judges. I know that the Premier Referee Club has also been satisfied with Gestranius. I could imagine that the referees also want to present their point of view. It's a good question whether he has the right to defend himself like that or not. I don't think that this is a question of such a situation that one would use the authority to command subordinates.”
According to those sued, there have been problems for years. What is the reason?
“I have been thinking about the fact that there have been more personal problems than average in the referee function. I personally see that the root cause is that we are dealing with passionate people who have opinions and compete with each other for places. The way of management has been addressed, and of course people have also changed in the operation.”
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