On May 12, the new ViCom short-term collaboration “The Analysis of Referee Gestures as a Visual Communication System in Football“ visited the DFB Campus in Frankfurt and discussed the first steps of this collaboration with the director of the communication team of the DFB Schiri GmbH, Alex Feuerherdt. The new short-term collaboration addresses the question of whether referee gestures in football constitute a part of a special conventionalized visual communication system. We aim to shed light on the properties of visual communication systems in general by taking a closer look at gestural communication between referees and assistant referees, between referees and players, and between referees and spectators. Of particular interest is the question of whether, and under which conditions, certain gestures converge in usage and become conventionalized over time, even if they are not explicitly taught.
