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The Points of IJF Refereeing manual

 1.      Principles

The extra thoughts and emotions caused by various pressures from the surroundings (coaches, competitors, spectators, TV, and examiners) have to be taken away.

Always act in calm manner, full of confidence, fair and careful, and maintaining presence.

Referee as often as possible, and ask colleagues to evaluate his/her own refereeing to accumulate experience.

The referee should review refereeing rules before the tournament.

The judges must respect the authority of the referee and allow acceptable degree of latitude on calls and decisions.

The judge is an important member of the refereeing team, and possesses the equal rights to the referee to express his judgement. On the other hand, they are assigned different responsibilities; in particular, the call of ‘in or out’ of contest area for executed technique should be expressed clearly.

2.      Technique

The referee, being the central authority in the contest, is required to remain calm, confident, and rational throughout the contest.

When making a call, as an evaluation of Nage-waza, the referee must not look at judges to check if they agree or disagree to the decision.

When making a call and displaying a gesture, it is important for the referee to turn slightly (1/4) so that he/she may see at least one judge in sight.

It is important for the referee to keep good relationships with both judges.

The judge must not make such an action as to give excessive influence on the referee.

The judge must not display gestures to express evaluation of the technique before the referee does.

3.      Conference

Conference should be kept to minimum occasion.

The referee invites judges to the location just back of ‘the referee’s starting position’, where the conversation cannot be heard by contestants.

In the case of ‘Sonomama’, the referee shall invites both judges to the location of the contestants, if necessary.

The referee stands facing the contestants, and the judges on both sides turning 45 degrees inwards.

The referee and judges have a conference, the referee having both contestants in his/her sights, and the judges at least 1 contestant in their sights.

During the conference, the referee listens to the judge one by one.

The referee must not discuss with one judge only.

(difference of opinion )

The judge with a different opinion from the referee’s shall immediately display his/her own opinion by giving the proper gesture and hold it until the other judge acknowledges the opinion.

If the referee does not notice the gesture given by both judges, the closest judge approaches the referee to report.

4.      Medical examination

Medical examination is to be called only under the referee’s authority.

When the contest is suspended, the judges must approach the referee to ensure if the medical attendant is taking the action according to the rules.

The referee must determine whether the injury is caused by the prohibited act or by accident. If caused by accident, immediately instructs the scorer to mark the medical examination (+ mark) on the scoreboard.

Medical treatment for injury is commended to finish within 1 minute.

5.      Correction on scoreboard

Any correction on the scoreboard falls under the authority of the referee.

If the referee should find any error on the scoreboard, he/she must stop the contest and correct the error.

If the judge finds an error on the scoreboard, he/she must stand up so that the referee notices it.

In case the referee should not notice the error, both judges must hold the standing position until noticed.

6.  Gesture (referee)

Posture, movement, and gesture have to be natural in any circumstances.

Gestures must be precise and vigorous and held for approximately 3 seconds.

While displaying a gesture, the referee must not turn eyes away from the contestants.

When calling ‘Matte’, the referee should project his call towards the contestants with the gesture to extend his/her palm towards to timekeeper.

The referee should learn the basic standing posture with arms straight down.

Do not walk in the contest area in an excessively exaggerated manner.

When the contestant is thrown, the referee must be in a position where he/she can see the whole point of impact on the Tatami.

When the thrown contestant lands, the referee must not flinch or turn his head or body. The referee should be careful not to unconsciously imitate the throwing movement of the contestant.

The referee should not give gestures with the whole body, but only with arms.

The facial expressions and head movements which may imply the personal view of the referee such as ‘the act was a little less that …… ’ should be avoided.

The referee must show respect to the contestants, showing courtesy to direct them back to the starting position and avoiding to touch them directly.

In ‘Osaekomi’ gesture, the referee should move 1/4 around the hand.

6.      Gesture (judges)

The posture of the judge is also important to maintain the presence of the whole refereeing team.

The back should be straight, leaning against the back of the chair.

Both hands should be placed on his inner thighs with palms down.

Legs should be slightly apart, and feet placed flat on Tatami.

‘In and out’ gesture should be held until the referee calls either ‘Matte’ or the evaluation of the technique.

8.      Position

The referee should be careful not to block the judges’ sight. Keep the triangle position.

The referee should stay 3 to 4 meters away from the contestants.

The referee should always evaluate and anticipate the movement of the contestants so that he/she can move to the best position.

In newaza, the referee should stay 2 to 3 meters away from the contestants.