Objectives:

i) analyze the perceptions of expert referees on the introduction of football referee training programs in Portugal; (ii) identify differences in the referees' ratings due to the internship at the Academia de Arbitragem (AA).

Methodology:

2 Several complementary studies were carried out. In the First Study, five experts in the field were interviewed. In the second, the referees' classifications were collected between 2009-2019 (N = 243) and 3 groups were formed according to their formation: Group 1 (n = 81) promoted after an internship in AA; Group 2 (n = 85) promoted directly; Group 3 (n = 76) never promoted.

The results revealed: i) a change in the structure of the training of referees; ii) signaling gaps in the formative and classifying process; iii) the existence of an individualistic culture and demand in the sector; iv) significant differences in the average ranking between the G3 and G1.

Conclusion:

There are improvements perceived in the training process, although there have been no significant improvements in the classification performance.