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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 11, No. 2
Publication Date: February 25, 2024
DOI:10.14738/assrj.112.16392.
Al Qaysi, A., Baaziz, M., Boukari, S., Attia, A., Turki, O., Chortane, S. G., & Khalifa, R. (2024). Guidance/Training Course in Facing the
Psychological Pressures and Improving the Speed and Performance of Football Referees for Iraqi Premier League. Advances in Social
Sciences Research Journal, 11(2). 54-70.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Guidance/Training Course in Facing the Psychological Pressures
and Improving the Speed and Performance of Football Referees
for Iraqi Premier League
Ali Al Qaysi
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia and Research Laboratory (LR 23JS01) « Sport Performance,
Health & Society »
Mohamed Baaziz
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia andHigher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Gafsa,
University of Gafsa, Gafsa, Tunisia
Samia Boukari
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia and Research Laboratory (LR 23JS01) « Sport Performance,
Health & Society »
Ahmed Attia
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia and Research Laboratory (LR 23JS01) « Sport Performance,
Health & Society »
Olfa Turki
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia and Research Laboratory (LR 23JS01) « Sport Performance,
Health & Society »
Sabri Gaied Chortane
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia and Research Laboratory (LR 23JS01) « Sport Performance,
Health & Society »
Riadh Khalifa
Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Ksar-Said, University of
Manouba, Tunisia and Research Laboratory (LR 23JS01) « Sport Performance,
Health & Society »
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Al Qaysi, A., Baaziz, M., Boukari, S., Attia, A., Turki, O., Chortane, S. G., & Khalifa, R. (2024). Guidance/Training Course in Facing the Psychological
Pressures and Improving the Speed and Performance of Football Referees for Iraqi Premier League. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal,
11(2). 54-70.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.112.16392
ABSTRACT
The study aimed to identify the effect of the guidance and Program in Facing the
Psychological Pressures and Improving the Speed, its Endurance and Performance
of Football Referees for Iraqi Premier League. The equal-group experimental
method has been used. The groups are two experimental groups and a control
group with pre- and post-measurements. The study sample consisted of (30)
referees. They were selected randomly and by lottery. They were distributed into
two experimental groups (the first experimental group takes the training
curriculum, the second experimental group takes the training curriculum and the
guidance program), and the third group is the control. Each group consists of ten
referees. Having done that, the normal distribution was conducted by using the
skewness and variation coefficients. while homogeneity was used by Levene’s test
for homogeneity and the (F) test for equality. The researcher conducted an
exploratory experiment, which focused on identifying the field difficulties that the
researcher may face during the actual conduct of the guidance and training
program. The SPSS statistical software has been used. The results of the study
showed the improvement of the second experimental group, followed by the first
experimental group, and then the control group. Accordingly, the researcher
concluded that the guidance and training program improved the referee’s
performance.
Keywords: Guidance/Training Program, Psychological Pressures, Speed Endurance,
Performance of Football Referees.
INTRODUCTION
In order to raise the technical level of referees, we must focus on all physical, martial and
psychological aspects. Because the game of football is diverse and its circumstances keep
changing, for it is considered the first popular game in the world and fun and excitement it gives
for practitioners and viewers alike, it became the most practiced because of the simplicity of its
practice and because it is an attractive international language, it gains the attention of millions
of people of different ages, races, religions, and cultural, social, scientific, and sporting levels,
through field observations or via television screens. This is why we note that International
Federation of Association Football and the national federations always strive to have this game
is at the heart of the event to advance and rise to the best levels through conducting studies and
scientific research as well as great care was taken in preparing the basic elements of this game,
which is represented by the players, coaches, and referees, for they have decisive decisions and
a great influence and a major role in bringing the match to safety and achieving success in
leading it, and it can be achieved only by improving the level of refereeing performance, which
must be essential in the development of the game.
The match referee is constantly confronted with the players' reactions to his decisions, which
sometimes could be as bad as verbal and physical attacks, and the referee is constantly exposed
to the shouts of a certain team fans, as well as to criticism from the media. Football referees,
therefore, are exposed to psychological pressures resulting from refereeing matches, such as
tension, anxiety, and fear. They also suffer from stress and nervous tension, which are of the
causes of psychological burnout, and therefore, psychologically prepared referee will be the
state of readiness and preparedness for the upcoming response, self-confidence, and focusing
on the positive aspects that lead to better expectations for performance and prevents the
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 11, Issue 2, February-2024
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
occurrence of negative perceptions that lead to damage to performance and increased anxiety
as a result of prior expectations of failure, which works to reduce the chances of the referee
succeeding in leading the match successfully. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the modern
therapeutic methods that is primarily concerned with the cognitive approach for psychological
disorders. This method aims to remove psychological pain by identifying false self-concepts and
signals and correcting and modifying them.
Psychological pressure has a significant impact on referees, affecting their performance in a
negative way due to the emotional state that occurs to them, which increases neuromuscular
tension. It also reduces their focus and attention, which makes compatibility difficult. The
theoretical importance of this study lies in developing a cognitive framework for referees
about:
• Its results and recommendations, which may help answer some questions about the
feasibility of the impact of the guidance program on technical cognitive behavioral
therapy for the psychological stress of football referees for the Iraqi Premier League.
• Determine appropriate goals and methods that contribute to developing speed, speed
endurance, and the performance of football referees for the Iraqi premier league.
• Access to the best guidance and training programs in developing the physical fitness
elements and performance of football referees for the Iraqi premier league.
• Opening new horizons for other research dealing with other variables, and other
arbitration degrees.
This study focuses on methods for dealing with different types of stress. A person may
sometimes find himself faced with several possibilities about how to deal with the pressures
they encounter and whether they do anything about the causes of the pressures. Processing
stress simply means that we learn and master some methods that will help us deal daily with
these pressures and reduce the negative effects as much as possible. The problem of the study
Soccer is distinguished by the fast-changing pace of the players’ movements on one hand, and
on the other hand, the different tasks of the players, which is due to the different playing
positions of the players, and the physical characteristics and basic skills that each player
possesses which qualify them to play in one position without the other. Also, the more the
player enjoys physical, skillful, tactical, and psychological capabilities and can show them in the
actual competitive atmosphere, the higher their chance of winning matches and turning the
course of the game in their favor. From here, the researchers came up with the idea of
conducting this study with the aim of examining the level of physical fitness of young female
soccer players in Palestinian clubs, in light of the variable playing position (offensive line,
midfield line, defensive line, goalkeeper) and analyzing it and then searching for practical
measures to improve and develop it, where the problem of the study revolves around
identifying the level of some elements of physical fitness according to the variable of the playing
position of young female soccer players in Palestinian clubs1.
Research Problem
Given the great development in the game of football, as well as the speed of play, and the great
role that referees play in the success of any match and bringing it to safety, which comes
1 Abdel Sattar,1998: 203.