"Israeli referees are no less good than many referees in Europe, but they are not considered"
Legendary former referee Alon Yefet told "Mahatzit BaShchuna" about the path from the third league to the biggest stages, the sending off of Roberto Carlos, the criticism from Avraham Klein, VAR, Abukasis, Zahavi, and more.
In the new episode of "Mahatzit BaShchuna" from Sport1, Ron Amikam hosted legendary former referee Alon Yefet, who looked back at significant stations in his glorious career.
On the way he got into refereeing: "In 11th grade, they came to school and put up a sign inviting people to a football referee course. It was written that whoever finishes the course gets a referee certificate, and what does a referee certificate give? Free entry to all football stadiums in the country. That way I could watch Maccabi Netanya. That's how I started."
On the beginning of the path in the third league: "I remember a game in Pardes Hanna in the third league, when letters were sent about me and stories were told about me. I said to myself: 'God, where have I reached?'. I came as an 18-year-old boy to referee games, and they start telling so many stories about you. After such a game, I told the regional manager: 'Either you promote me to the national framework, or you let me referee children and youth'. In the third league, it's a real Wild West."
On the meeting with Isaac Ben Itzhak and the old generation referees: "I will not forget Isaac Ben Itzhak in my first test. You see him and you just relax towards him. He puts on shoes, and I am a child, I don't understand anything, just trying to run after him. These are memories that I still remember today."
On the criticism he received from Avraham Klein at the beginning of the path: "In my first game in the National League, Maccabi Haifa against Rishon LeZion at Kiryat Eliezer, after half an hour I already ran out of strength. At the end of the game, Avraham Klein entered the dressing room and said to me: 'Who put you on the grass? You don't know how to run at all'. He told me to take a rope, jump for a few months, and only then return to refereeing."
On the difficulty of an Israeli referee to break through in Europe: "Our referees are no less good than many referees in Europe, even better than many of them. But when you arrive as an Israeli referee, we are not considered much. Our teams didn't reach far, our players didn't reach far, so they will prefer a referee from Italy, Spain, France, or England."
On the game that pushed him forward: "A big jump for me was when I refereed the semi-final of the European Championship under 16 in England, Spain against Croatia. It was the team of Fernando Torres and Andres Iniesta. I was seen by two members of the UEFA refereeing committee, and thanks to that I managed to jump. Once you jump, everyone already sees you."
On the famous sending off of Roberto Carlos: "He didn't hit me with his shoulder. He came with all his might and almost blew me up. At the moment of truth, it wasn't that hard, it was automatic. You see a person coming, supposedly wanting to hurt you, and not stopping but hitting you. You don't think much. If you start thinking, you won't send him off."
On the role of the referee: "The success of a referee is that in the end, they don't talk about him. But that won't stop me from doing something if I need to do it, even if they talk about it for a hundred years. They put me in this place to make decisions that no one likes. If you are not capable of making such decisions, this is not your place."
On his preparation for games: "You couldn't surprise me in a game. I knew all the players one by one: who answers me, who doesn't answer me, who talks to me, who makes a slide tackle, who falls, who jumps. I had written pages before games, each one what he does. I would watch clips, teams, and games."
On VAR: "Even referees don't like decisions by a millimeter, but once they introduced the technology, you have to use it. I think VAR helps referees, those who know how to use it correctly. There are many things that need to be improved, and mainly to do it much faster."
On the smartest player he refereed: "Yossi Abukasis. Nothing happened for no reason. He was a genius. He knew when to stand on the ball, when to send a player to stand on the ball, when it is possible to restart the game and when not. He was the only one who knew how to read a lot of what I think."
On the derby that was blown up in 2014 following Fuad's break into the pitch and the confrontation with Eran Zahavi: "I would not have sent off Eran Zahavi. I think that even Roi Reinshreiber, if the same event happened today, would not have sent him off. When you referee in a game, it's not like sitting up in the stands. What did Roi see in front of his eyes? A player hitting a fan. In hindsight, it's easy to talk."
