The Japan Football Association received a licence on 4 July issued by the Ministry of Internal Affair of Communications and the Kanto Bureau of Telecommunication for the use of land mobile stations to be utilised for the Referee Communication System. This Referee Communication System is to be introduced for international matches hosted by the JFA, the Emperor’s Cup matches and the J-League matches (J1, J2).  The system assists communications between referees and ensures smooth and accurate calls by them when they take on an officiating duty in accordance with the Football Law of the Game.

Referee Communication System

Referee Communication System is to be used in:

International matches hosted by the JFA, the Emperor’s Cup (selected matches only), all matches in the J1 League, the Yamazaki Nabisco Cup and the J2 League, and others 

Case Studies 

It was first introduced for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany and has been installed for international matches hosted by the FIFA and by each continental association as well as domestic leagues in the world. 

Comment
KAMIKAWA Toru, Chairman of Referee Committee

I’m extremely pleased that we’ve finally started to introduce the Referee Communication System, first used for the FIFA World Cup in 2006, for domestic competitions. The system has been indispensable not only for football but for any sports in Europe in order for referees to make accurate calls. I hope it will be widely utilised it Japan which hosts the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Olympics and Paralympics in 2020. I would like to express my warmest appreciation to the Ministry of Internal Affair of Communications, the Kanto Bureau of Communications and all other parties involved for supporting this introduction.