After all the abuse, shoves and catcalls they suffer from players in their national leagues, referees at Euro 2008 earned what they were asking for - "Respect."

About the biggest melee referees became involved in was some lighthearted jostling and hugging from the three referees selected to officiate in the semis and final of the European Championships.

The word "Respect" was stitched onto every left sleeve in black against the Day-Glo colors of referees' shirts to stand out. Surprisingly to many, the message got across.

"The situation about respect in this tournament has improved. Absolutely," said Roberto Rosetti, the Italian who will referee Sunday's final of the European Championship. "I had an excellent sensation about this. There is trust."

Sometimes, a referee needs to be an expert in running backward as a whole team chases him menacingly to contest a decision. They gang up and intimidate him in the hope that perhaps the next decision will be kinder on them. Referees have been attacked by fans. Sometimes they are abused by coaches who question their integrity.

There has been almost nothing of this at the monthlong championship and Rosetti directly credits UEFA President Michel Platini for the change in attitude. "Platini, maybe three days before the beginning of the tournament, told us that respect is very important and that players must respect the referee," he said.

Need for change

To press the point home, referee representatives were sent to all team headquarters with DVDs and a stern lecture to draw the line for players and coaches. The DVD included 13 game situations, with clear instructions how referees would react to certain situations, including protesting.

"There was one case where a goalkeeper ran 40 meters to go complain to the referee and he was given a yellow card. He knew it. He had been warned," said Yvan Cornu, UEFA's head of refereeing.

German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann received a yellow card far away from his goal after protesting the dismissal of teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger in a 2-1 loss to Croatia.

Such scenes are all too commonplace in England's Premier League and other top competitions in Europe, where they often become as disruptive to the flow of the game as a bench-clearing brawl in ice hockey.

The instructions paid off. "At the matches, there were fewer complaints, less group haggling, less mass confrontation, little anti-sporting behavior," said Cornu. "It is positive."

"The matches are still rife with tension but their task is made easier if they can take the decision in peace and don't face complaints," he said.

The sense of respect also improved the quality of the game, said Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere, who takes charge of Thursday's semifinal between Spain and Russia.

"When you see that there were only three red cards, it shows that there was respect on the pitch. It allows the players to produce attacking football," he said.

German referee Herbert Fandel, excluded from the final stages of the competition because Germany is still involved, endured the most torrid time in the Spain-Italy quarterfinal, which featured 51 fouls.

Most of these were cynical trips to disrupt play and usually involved the fouled player ensuring play was stopped by feigning serious injury — for at least 30 seconds when they were magically cured and could carry on normally.

The dearth of aggressive player-referee confrontation is all the more surprising since video replays on the huge stadium screens sometimes showed perceived errors within seconds.

Italian striker Luca Toni was given a yellow card when he urged the referee to look at the stadium screen which showed Ruud van Nistelrooy's opening goal in a 3-0 rout of the Azzurri. At first sight it appeared blatantly offside. Later it was explained that a player behind the goalline was still considered in play.

"This is modern football," said Rosetti of the giant screens. "We cannot change this," he said. He added though it was impossible to take such video action into consideration. "In the match, I must focus on the pitch. Anything else, it is not important," he said. "Only the match. The situation. Concentration."