Tal Ben Chaim after a lecture by match referees: "It's a very valuable experience"
The work of the referee in professional football is far from simple, there's no disputing that fact. But their labours would be made considerably easier if only the players themselves would recognise the difficulties of the men (and in some countries women) whose whistles govern their behaviour on the pitch, for better and for worse. Today, while the rest of Israel took the day off for national elections, two of Israel's senior referees, Daniel Bar Natan and Ziv Adler, came to Maccabi Tel Aviv's Kiryat Shalom training ground to give a lecture on the latest changes in the rules of the game and other issues that arise during the course of football matches. The lecture was attended by coaching staff and players alike. Afterwards, Maccabi winger Tal Ben Chaim gave his reaction to what was said: "It's interesting to have a look at all this from the referee's point of view, it's a very valuable experience. I don't envy them and I wouldn't want to be in their shoes for a moment".
Later on in the day the Maccabi players and training staff paid a visit to the base of the elite Israeli Air Force commando unit "Shaldag".
