The customer
On 7 April 2019, the French Football Federation celebrated its 100th anniversary. The FFF organises, supervises and regulates amateur and top-level football throughout France.
It is responsible for organising national championships, national teams and international competitions. Affiliated with FIFA and UEFA, the FFF is a founder member of UEFA.
In 2023, just over 1,000 of the FFF’s 20,000 members were women referees. Increasing the number of women referees is one of the FFF’s major concerns, and the organisation would like to encourage young girls to take up the profession.
The brief
Since 2022, the French Football Federation’s elite referees have been using the VOKKERO ELITE on all League 1 pitches.
In line with the plan to professionalise women’s refereeing launched in 2021, the FFF wanted to extend the use of this audio system to the first and second women’s divisions, in order to strengthen and enhance the image of women’s refereeing and support these young women at the highest level.
The deployed solution
Following the deployment of VOKKERO ELITE in League 1 by the Professional Football League, the FFF has chosen to sign a new contract with VOGO for the deployment of VOKKERO ELITE audio systems in the National (men’s 3rd division) as well as the D1 Arkema and D2 women’s divisions.
We contacted Lorenzo Bossi, Head of Operations and Technology at the FFF’s Refereeing Department, to find out about the user experience of FFF referees. He put us in touch with Siham Benmahammed, a female referee in Division 2.
The result
Reliability
“We are now using VOKKERO ELITE in three of our federal championships and are very satisfied with its reliability, which is crucial to the smooth running and management of matches by match officials,” commented the FFF.
Audio quality
They added: “The ELITE system has proved its worth. The vast majority of our refereeing teams are now equipped with them, and the feedback has been very positive, particularly with regard to the superior audio quality, which significantly improves the experience on the pitch”.
Ease of use
“One of the many advantages of the VOKKERO ELITE is its ease of use and ergonomic design, with just one small, lightweight unit,” says Siham Benmahammed.
“The system meets our needs perfectly. It ensures fluid and efficient communication between the referees. Decisions are taken much more quickly, while maintaining a clear understanding of the players involved in the game. The earpieces reduce and filter outside sounds, while ensuring that some remain audible”.
Mme Siham BENMAHAMMED,
Female referee, D2
The solutions we use
Discover the solutions used in this case study
VOKKERO ELITE, world leader in audio communication systems for sports refereeing.