Monday 1 August 2016 17:01, UK
A new group of professional match officials will officiate across the Sky Bet Championship and support the development of refereeing standards across the rest of the Sky Bet EFL.
Known as Select Group 2, 18 new referees and 36 assistant referees have been contracted thanks to financial investment from all 24 Sky Bet Championship clubs.
The investment follows the recent launch of a new joint-initiative adopted across English football that aims to promote honesty, integrity and positive behaviour across the game.
From the start of the 2016/17 season referees will apply the laws of the game to rigorously manage players' and coaches' behaviour towards match officials, as well as conduct in the technical area.
This initiative has been introduced alongside a revision of the game's laws designed to make them more easily understood by all and to ensure there is greater consistency in application by officials.
Shaun Harvey, EFL Chief Executive said: "The job of a referee has always been an unforgiving one and today, more than at any other point in the history of our competitions, they face increasing scrutiny over how they perform and the split-second decisions they make.
"Therefore, there has to be a collective responsibility between The EFL and PGMOL [Professional Game Match Officials Ltd] to ensure we prepare our officials in the most appropriate way. The introduction of Select Group 2 will do this as we continue to look at ways of improving officiating standards.
"The move to full-time officials also presents us with a more long-term opportunity of supporting our ex-players and getting them back into the professional game by training as a match official. We all want refereeing to become a career and not just a job.
"It's also important to stress that it's our clubs who have driven forward this initiative and they deserve great credit for identifying an issue and then being prepared to find - and fund - a solution that will have a positive impact on the game for many years to come.
"Each Championship club has committed to £50k worth of additional investment, meaning there is no requirement to find this money from our central funds.
"The 18 Select Group 2 officials will predominantly work across the Championship, but as part of the new PGMOL development programme it will allow an enhanced training programme for officials in League One and Two, ensuring all 72 of our clubs benefit."
