Referee (association football)
Uniform and equipment
Powers stopping, suspending or terminating the match at their discretion, for any infringements of the Laws; stopping, suspending or terminating the match because of outside interference of any kind; stopping the match if, in their opinion, a player is seriously injured and ensuring that they are removed from the field of play. An injured player may only return to the field of play after the match has restarted; allowing play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in the referee's opinion, only slightly injured; allowing play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalising the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue; taking disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable and sending-off offences. They are not obliged to take this action immediately but must do so, with narrow exceptions, when the ball next goes out of play; taking action against team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and may, at the referee's discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds. Duties enforcing the Laws of the Game; controlling the match in co-operation with the assistant referees and, where applicable, with the fourth and other officials; ensuring that any ball used meets the requirements of Law 2; ensuring that the players' equipment meets the requirements of Law 4; acting as timekeeper and keeping a record of the match; ensuring that any player bleeding from a wound leaves the field of play. The player may only return on receiving a signal from the referee, who must be satisfied that the bleeding has stopped; punishing the more serious offence when a player commits more than one offence at the same time; acting on the advice of the assistant referees regarding incidents that the referee has not seen; ensuring that no unauthorised persons enter the field of play; indicating the restart of the match after it has been stopped; providing the appropriate authorities with a match report, which includes information on any disciplinary action taken against players or team officials, substitutions and any other incidents that occurred before, during or after the match. Modern day referees and their assistants wear a uniform consisting of a jersey, badge, shorts and socks: until the 1950s it was more common for a referee to wear a blazer than a jersey. Traditionally that uniform was almost always all black, unless one of the teams was wearing a very dark jersey in which case the referee would wear another colour of jersey (usually red) to distinguish themself from both teams. At the 1994 World Cup finals, new jerseys were introduced that gave officials a choice of burgundy, yellow or white, and at the same time the creation of the Premier League in England saw referees wear green jerseys: both changes were motivated by television considerations. Since then, most referees have worn either yellow or black, but the colours and styles adopted by individual associations vary greatly. For international contests under the supervision of FIFA, Adidas uniforms are worn because Adidas is the current sponsor. FIFA allows referees to wear five colours: black, red, yellow, green and blue. Along with the jersey, referees are required to wear black shorts, black socks (with white stripes in some cases), and black shoes. The badge, which displays the referee's license level and year of validity, is often affixed to the left chest pocket.
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