Cyrille de La Morinerie 3:41 p.m., October 13, 2021, modified at 3:48 p.m., October 13, 2021

The requests to place microphones on the referees are becoming more and more urgent.

Arsène Wenger, legendary Arsenal coach, has just asked.

What would that be for and how could it work in the game?

Europe 1 takes stock of this device discussed in the evolutions of the game.

DECRYPTION

Do we need full transparency on what is happening on the football fields?

The question very often arises in this sport, between the introduction of specific devices and the hostility of many fans to see the game "perverted" by these innovations.

This is the case with VAR, video refereeing,

goal line technology,

but also, recently, the sound system for referees during matches.

Today, requests are increasing to equip the men in black with microphones, in order to better understand their decisions.

"A way to raise respect," says Wenger

This would be used to hear, in front of his TV, the conversations between the central referees on one side and the players or the referees of the VAR on the other. It would take the form of a small lavalier microphone, simply to avoid hearing the loud whistles, which could be annoying. Past experiences have been rather positive as during the late Coupe de la Ligue, a competition which saw its referees equipped with microphones, as during the 2010 final between Bordeaux and Marseille. At the time, a sequence with the Brazilian Brandao and Stéphane Lannoy had been widely relayed on the internet.

The experiment was not prolonged, but the idea resurfaced.

Arsène Wenger, FIFA's director of development, explained Tuesday, during the presentation of the La Poste Arbitration Days, that it would be a very interesting step forward.

"I am personally for transparency and I find that it is one of the means of raising respect. I think that it will undoubtedly be necessary", defends the former coach of Arsenal, criticized for his proposal to play a World Cup every two years.

French referees rather favorable 

This would above all, as in rugby, make decisions clearer to the public.

"It's still a theater," says supporting examples, the referee Gaël Angoula, who officiates in Ligue 2. "If today you insult me, it will be between us, but I will give you a red card. People 50 meters away won't understand. Unless they can hear you, that might help. "

According to information from

L'Équipe

, which quotes a survey carried out in July among the 20 central referees of Ligue 1, 60% of the latter are in favor.

The Professional Football League is ready to launch experiments in Ligue 1. The ball is now in the court of the IFAB, which governs the laws of the game at the international level.