Tournament won’t be same without Scots
Former ref Hugh will be running the rule over Euro 2016’s refs throughout the tournament.
Hugh took charge of games at two World Cups and is one of Uefa’s three refereeing supervisors for the Euros, with fellow former match officials Pierluigi Collina and Marc Bata.
He said: “I feel very lucky to have this role which means we get to the major finals and tournaments but it will be work, work, work. It’s going to be a busy time.
“After the opening game, we have three matches a day. In the afternoons, the referee teams will be coming back from the three matches the day before to be debriefed.
“We’ll go through all the various incidents in the match and look to where we can find improvements. It’s quite a process.”
Hugh and his team have been meeting all of the players – including Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo – to make them aware of the latest rule changes.
He said: “I’m just back from meeting the Portuguese players and we had an hourand-a-half with them going through all the pre-tournament instructions, showing them videos and things we’ve shown the referees.
“There’s been a lot of law changes that kicked in on June 1, so the players need to be aware of that. “I was also over in Dublin last Monday talking to the Irish players and I’ve got to say there was a lot of interaction between the players.
“Martin O’Neill was very interested because it doesn’t matter how much he prepares his team, if he doesn’t know the laws of the game or the changes, it all goes to pot.”
Scots ref Willie Collum is among the 18 Euro 2016 refs Hugh will be keeping an eye on. But he admits he’s gutted Scotland won’t be in France.
He said: “Scotland failing to qualify for any tournament is a loss to the organisers. I think through the years we’ve witnessed what the Tartan Army can bring to a tournament.”
I feel lucky to have this role but it will be work, work, work