Why do referees end their careers and which factors determine the duration of a referee's career?

• Main Authors: Christian Rullang (Author), Eike Emrich (Author), Christian Pierdzioch (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Bern Open Publishing, 2017-11-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.15203/CISS_2017.006; 2414-6641
• Keywords: football referee; career duration; end of career; survey data; Sports; GV557-1198.995; Sports medicine; RC1200-1245
• Source: Current Issues in Sport Science, Vol 2 (2017)

Against the background that the number of referees has been falling in recent years, the German Football Association (DFB) needs to answer two key questions: (i) Why do referees end their careers, and, (ii) which factors determine the duration of referee careers? We studied these questions using data from a questionnaire study of former referees. Results of estimating linear regression models and a Cox model show that the duration of a typical referee career depends, among other factors, on how a referee thinks that the career developing according to his or her plan, and on whether the referee is successful in coping with insults, threats, and violence. The "survival rate" of a referee increases in the subjective evaluation of the importance of football-specific know-how. Approximately 39 % of the former referees stated that the end of their referee career could have been prevented.