Referees will get second chance to pass fitness test

Referees will have a second opportunity to pass a fitness test before the start of the League of Ireland season.

What was described as an “unprecedented” number of match officials came up short in a pre-season fitness test in the National Indoor Arena in Abbotstown on Friday night. The new FIFA test, described as “stringent” by one observer, included a doubling of the laps of the track required to be completed from 20 to 40, and a reported 23 of the 70 participants failed the test.