Mattias Gestranius ended his handsome career. He will continue to work on the development of refereeing. There is a shortage of referees in Finland. They are considered “a group that doesn’t quite belong in the game,” regrets Gestranius.
Mika Halonen,
Antti-Jussi Sipilä
When the Veikkausliiga season started on April 2, one wonderful Finnish career ended on the same day. Mattias Gestranius condemned his farewell match HJK – Honka in Töölö, Helsinki.
Gestranius was the referee for the first time in the Veikkausliiga in 2006. Since then, Gestranius, who became an international referee in 2009, has reached several hard and hot stews. The referee from Parais enjoyed and succeeded.
In the autumn of 2018, Gestranius became the second Finnish referee in the men’s league of football. The previous one had been 23 years earlier Ilkka Kohowho is judging the match of Ajax – Ferencvaros.
The Finnish team led by Gestranius successfully judged the match Atletico Madrid-Monaco on Madrid’s lavish Wanda Metropolitano. The home team won 2-0. Gestranius was the scorer after 82 minutes for Monaco. Stefan Savicin shower with another yellow card.
– At one point it was a dream, in recent years it became a goal. However, I don’t see this as such a big step in my career. I think this is one game among what I have whistled. Now it ‘s a little faster and better again, and it’ s great to judge such, Gestranius thought before the Champions League match.
Gestranius, 43, says one of the reasons he quit was that his international career was no longer on the rise. In March, Gestranius ended his international career in the international match between Norway and Slovakia. There were a total of 18 men’s A national matches.
– The age is starting to be so long that this has not continued for many years. Kroppa started saying “no thanks”, and the top sport is such that you have to train seriously. I was in the second highest rankings of the European Football Association, and I would not have reached that highest anymore, says Gestranius in an interview with Sport in Turku Kupittaa.
In the video below, Gestranius highlights memorable matches from his career. The story continues after the video.
The referees really train like professionals. The pace on the field has increased, and at the same time the demands on referees have increased. Gestranius has previously said in interviews that he ran 3,400 meters in the Cooper test. And of course, preparing for matches involves a lot more than just physical training.
– It was a long, interesting and very rocky trip. There have been some adversities in that as well. I was already considering quitting because of the overwork, but I got another chance. Full of twists and turns, but the end result is good, Gestranius describes his career.
In Finland, however, judges are not professionals, but other jobs come on top. Gestranius drifted into an overweight nightmare in the mid-2010s. He was on the sidelines for a year and the judging duties were over. However, Gestranius still rose to the top, all the way to the Champions League.
Below is the Sportliv episode from 2019, in which Gestranius talks about his career, overwork and judging. The story continues after the video.
Leadership skills were put to the test after the Greek riots
In 2018, Gestranius was also featured in a second match other than the Champions League. The Finnish trio, led by him, was invited to whistle the hot top match of the Greek league PAOK Thessaloniki – AEK Athens.
The entire Greek league had previously been suspended for weeks when the chairman of the PAOK, the Greco-Russian oligarch, Ivan Savvidis fired at the referee and marched to the field to rage his handgun with his belt.
– It was very, very strange. I probably didn’t even realize what kind of place I was in and maybe good so.
– The Greek Federation asked me to go there. The Greek league had been beaten earlier when the same teams had faced. By then, they had made the decision for a foreign judge to whistle for bigger games. I was then in first place, Gestranius recalls now.
Gestranius believes he was at his best when there was enough challenge in the games: there were challenging players or different cultures facing each other and certain leadership qualities were required.
– I think it’s the juju that has lifted me ahead of others in Finland.
Such a situation Gestranius does not remember in his career that he would have had to fear.
– In Greece, once we had to wait a little longer in the referee booth when the fans were dissatisfied. After all, it wasn’t a big deal either, Gestranius acknowledges.
“It succeeds who has the most diverse leadership skills”
Gestranius says he treated all the players the same way, but the big egos on the field did stand out.
– I once whistled the game of the Swedish national team against China. When Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) came to warm up, the whole Chinese bench took out the Cell Phones and started shooting. Tells about the status of that person. He is probably the most memorable person of his career. There are also a lot of exciting personalities in the domestic league that I like, but let’s not mention those names.
Speaking of being a referee, Gestranius emphasizes the leadership skills already mentioned.
– Must be able to be a good friend and sometimes a tight cop, and everything in between. The one with the most versatile toolkit here will succeed. Of course, you have to know how to make sensible decisions.
Players will accordingly appreciate a discussion from the referee.
– You’re not the one who always hits. One who understands the game and understands that football is a game where some situations just elevate emotions. They need to be able to take them in class, not in person. In addition to a good line in the game, nothing unexpected happens, Gestranius lists.
More training, communication and understanding
The feedback received by the referees is mainly negative. One of the problems Gestranius raises is that fans, the media, coaches and players, for example, do not understand the rules and their interpretations well enough. On the other hand, it is conceivable that because of that, the referees will be able to be quite calm in Finland.
– I have challenged the media many times and said that in Finland we can be quite calm when the media does not know the rules and therefore does not dare to challenge. Which, of course, may be a good thing.
– Teams, especially our top teams, should be trained in knowledge of the rules. I am putting it into action so that we communicate more so that we understand the truth and do not bark unnecessarily. And the referees also need to understand the players.
In the future, Gestranius will play a major role in the development of Finnish refereeing. The decision to close was influenced by the new wash offered by the Football Association as the coach of the top referees.
Started as chief referee Johan Holmqvistwhich has overall responsibility for the management and development of arbitration. Football Association newsletter (go to another service) The aim of the recruitments is to develop Finnish refereeing, increase the number of arbitrators and increase the value of arbitrators’ work.
“Many referees stop when someone fools around”
There is a chronic shortage of referees in Finland, which has led to the cancellation of matches at the lower league level in the worst case. Many young judges end their careers quickly due to unfortunate feedback.
– This is an extremely big problem, certainly not only in Finland. Referees are considered a slightly different group. As a group that doesn’t quite belong in that game.
– Many referees stop when someone fools around on the field: a parent shouts or the coach takes too much of a stand. Then the referee is alone there. We need to be able to support them better and the football community needs to accept more that the referees are also making mistakes, especially when it comes to junior and junior football.
That doesn’t mean mistakes shouldn’t be discussed. Going through them is important for a referee to develop, but mentors and referee observers are there for that.
– The new job is a very big challenge and opportunity, but I look forward to it. Through the positive. I’ve said in every course that “remember, it’s just ok to make mistakes”. No one is infallible, but everyone must accept it as well.
– There has been a mantra in refereeing that mistakes are made too big. Then the referee goes on the field to fear mistakes. That premise is wrong, and it inevitably shows in performance.