Doha: The Qatar Football Association (QFA) has expanded the Qatar Player App (QPA), originally designed to measure and unpack players' performance in league and national team matches, to include the evaluation of elite referees' performance during match management.
The QPA technology is leveraged to support player performance analysis by providing data on physical and technical output, before being further developed by Aspire Academy (the Academy for Sporting Excellence) to monitor the physical and technical performance data of referees.
Director of Football Performance and Science at Aspire Academy, Professor Valter Di Salvo, clarified that the operational framework of the application will include comprehensive statistics and performance information for each referee.
He stated that match performance data and video clips collected through optical tracking systems, alongside training data recorded via GPS devices, will be automatically uploaded to the application's database. He indicated that the system is fully integrated with a training record documenting all referee activities.
Through QPA, referees will be able to review match videos, unpack match and training statistics, and access physical evaluation results. The application also allows referees to provide daily feedback on their physical condition and fatigue levels, enabling technical and fitness staff to continuously recalibrate training programs, thereby enhancing performance and reducing trauma risks.
Each referee can access the application via a mobile device to review key performance indicators, including distance covered during matches, physical markers, and coaching decisions, all supported by relevant video clips. The platform is also available to fitness specialists to record and monitor all physical training sessions.
Additionally, Aspire Academy has provided a digital interactive platform for refereeing management, which includes customized reports for managing the entire referee system and consolidating performance data in a single center.
For his part, Chairman of the Referees Committee at QFA, Hani Taleb Ballan, applauded the initiative, extending his gratitude to Aspire Academy for its unwavering and productive collaboration.
He affirmed the refereeing administration's commitment to implementing solutions that support and elevate referee standards, noting that leveraging cutting-edge technology plays a pivotal role in achieving these objectives.
Ballan further highlighted that the application provides referees with a valuable educational tool, enabling them to review the matches they officiated, unpack performance statistics, and reassess and recalibrate coaching decisions made during matches.
He emphasized the importance of the dedicated platform in supporting the refereeing administration's capacity to evaluate the coaching and physical condition of each referee in a comprehensive and systematic manner.
