How would you evaluate the referees’ performance in the first week of the tournament?

Manfred Prause: First of all: all couples whistled at a high level in the preliminary round. We have seen a clear development and improvement. This is a result of our hard work with the young couples. Four of them have been appointed at an international tournament for the first time in their career.

  

Does this mean that everything is good? 

Manfred Prause: We have reached a good level, yes, but this doesn’t mean that there is no room for improvement. We are trying to adjust the level of some couples who don’t have the opportunity to lead matches in European leagues to the level of more experienced referee couples. This proves to work very well.  And it can be observed that even during the tournament the constant work with the referees pays off. They are getting better and better.

 

What have you noticed yet?

Manfred Prause: Officials of the participating teams have become much more disciplined compared to former tournaments. And the “acting” of the players is not so severe after the battles. Overall, the teams play very fair. With regard to the referees I can see a continuously ongoing positive development. In my opinion the reason for this is that all referee couples have been involved in the international referee course of the IHF.