Mastery of The Laws of The Game By Referees of PSSI Askab Banyumas
Keywords:
Laws of the Game; Referee Competence; Regulatory Mastery; Football Officiating; Decision-Making ConsistencyAbstract
Referees play a fundamental role in ensuring fairness, integrity, and consistency in football matches through the correct application of the Laws of the Game established by the International Football Association Board (IFAB). At the district association level, mastery of these regulations becomes a crucial foundation for refereeing professionalism and decision legitimacy. This study aimed to analyze the level of mastery of the Laws of the Game among football referees affiliated with PSSI Askab Banyumas. This research employed a quantitative descriptive design using a survey method. Data were collected through a structured multiple-choice test based on the official Laws of the Game. The participants consisted of 35 active referees holding C1, C2, and C3 licenses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean, minimum–maximum values, and categorical interval distribution. The results showed that the overall mean score was 86.43, placing referees in the good category. Specifically, 48.57% were categorized as good, 37.14% as very good, 11.43% as fair, and 2.86% as less. Mastery was strongest in procedural and technical aspects, while variation was observed in interpretative components of the rules. In conclusion, the regulatory foundation of referees at the district level is relatively strong; however, continuous reinforcement through case-based training, periodic evaluation, and regulatory updates is necessary to enhance decision-making consistency and professionalism.
References
Castillo-Rodríguez, A., Fernández-García, J. C., & Chinchilla-Minguet, J. L. (2023). Physical fatigue and its impact on football referees’ decision-making performance. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 3121. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043121
Carrington, S., Drust, B., & Weston, M. (2022). The influence of contextual and psychological factors on football referee decision-making. Journal of Sports Sciences, 40(8), 901–909. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.2015914
Cunningham, G. B., Melton, E. N., & Sartore-Baldwin, M. (2025). Evidence-based officiating: Toward a performance evaluation framework in football refereeing. Sport Management Review, 28(1), 45–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2024.05.002
Elstak, M., van der Kamp, J., & Rongen, F. (2025). Naturalistic decision-making in football officiating: Pattern recognition under pressure. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 68, 102482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102482
Gaviria Alzate, J., Ruiz-Pérez, L. M., & Moreno, F. J. (2024). Declarative and procedural knowledge in sports decision-making: Implications for referee training. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1287745. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1287745
Hamzah, A., & Cahyadi, A. (2025). Referee credibility and match legitimacy in Indonesian regional football competitions. Jurnal Keolahragaan, 13(1), 15–27. https://doi.org/10.21831/jk.v13i1.61234
Hoffmann, M. D., Murr, D., & Raabe, J. (2024). Regulatory consistency and officiating legitimacy in professional football. European Sport Management Quarterly, 24(2), 310–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2023.2179021
Hüttermann, S., Memmert, D., & Simons, D. J. (2022). The impact of crowd noise on football referees’ perceptual-cognitive performance. Scientific Reports, 12, 15321. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19634-5
International Football Association Board. (2024). Laws of the Game 2024/25. https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest
Janssen, D., Pizzera, A., & Raab, M. (2023). Naturalistic decision-making in sports refereeing. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 35(6), 1023–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2022.2068451
Pizzera, A., Morya, E., & Raab, M. (2022). Cognitive processes in sports officiating: A systematic review. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 4, 882201. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.882201
Rodenberg, R. M. (2022). Interpreting the gray areas of football rules: A legal and regulatory perspective. Marquette Sports Law Review, 32(2), 457–478. https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol32/iss2/6
Russell, S., Benton, D., & Kingsley, M. (2022). The influence of regulatory knowledge on officiating performance. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 17(3), 599–608. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211056823
Saharullah, S., & Hasyim, H. (2024). Interpretative challenges in applying IFAB regulations at regional football competitions. Jurnal Ilmu Keolahragaan Indonesia, 14(2), 101–112. https://doi.org/10.21009/JIKI.142.03
Sahrianoor, S., Rahman, A., & Yusuf, M. (2023). The role of referees in maintaining competitive integrity in Indonesian football. Jurnal SPORTIF, 9(2), 250–262. https://doi.org/10.29407/js_unpgri.v9i2.19457
Seyderhelm, S., & Blackmore, K. (2023). Reducing cognitive load in elite football referees through structured knowledge training. Journal of Sports Behavior, 46(1), 45–60. https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/sportsbehavior/vol46/iss1/4
Sugiyono. (2019). Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif, dan R&D. Bandung: Alfabeta.
Sugiyono. (2022). Metode Penelitian Pendidikan. Bandung: Alfabeta.
Vater, C., Larkin, P., & Mesagno, C. (2024). Social pressure and perceptual bias in football officiating. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 70, 102576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102576
Wang, C., Zhang, Y., & Raab, M. (2024). Knowledge structures and referee decision accuracy in football. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1302456. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1302456
Zhang, S., Hüttermann, S., & Memmert, D. (2024). Cognitive load and decision accuracy in high-intensity sports environments. Cognitive Processing, 25(1), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-023-01145-2
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Saguh Galang Setianto, Purwono Sidik Permono (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

















