Assign a Referee
Assigning a referee in 4league is a two-step flow. First you add referees to the competition's staff using an invite code. Then you assign one of those staff members to a specific fixture. Only a referee who is assigned to a match — and connected to a real 4league account — can enter that match's score.
How Referee Assignment Works
A referee is not assigned competition-wide — assignment happens per match. The flow has two distinct stages:
| Stage | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Add to staff | The organizer adds referees to the competition's staff list using an invite code. Each referee becomes an entry in the competition's members. | Competition staff screen |
| 2. Assign to a fixture | The organizer opens a specific match and picks one (or more) of those staff referees for that fixture. The selection is saved onto the match. | Match options menu → assign referee |
Adding someone to the staff makes them available to officiate in the competition; it does not put them on any match. A referee only gains the ability to score a given match once they are explicitly assigned to that match.
Add Referees to the Competition Staff
Referees are drawn from the competition's members, so a referee must be part of the staff before they can be assigned to any match.
Open the competition staff
From the competition, open the staff section where referees and other members are managed.
Add a referee
Add the referee to the staff list. Each staff member can be a manual entry (name only) or a connected member who joins by entering the competition's invite code in their own 4league account.
Have the referee connect with the invite code
Share the invite code with the referee. When they connect their account to the staff entry, that entry gains a linked user account — which is what lets them log in and actually enter scores later.
A name-only staff entry can be listed on a match for the record, but it has no linked account, so that referee cannot sign in and score. To let a referee enter results, make sure they have connected to the staff entry with the invite code before the match.
Assign a Referee to a Match
Once referees are on the staff, assign one to a specific fixture from the match's options.
Open the match
Find the fixture in the competition schedule or calendar and open it.
Open the match options and choose "Assign referee"
From the match options menu, pick the assign-referee action. You'll see the competition's staff referees to choose from.
Select the referee(s) and save
Pick the referee for this match and save. The selection is stored on the match. Saving replaces any previous referee selection for that fixture with the set you just chose.
When the assignment is saved, each selected referee is recorded on the match with their name, their staff entry, and — for connected referees — their linked user account. If the match already has both teams set, every assigned referee with a connected account receives a "referee assigned" push notification naming the fixture.
The organizer of a local league adds two referees to the competition staff and shares the invite code with each. Both connect their accounts during the week. On Saturday morning the organizer opens the 10:00 fixture, taps the match options, chooses "Assign referee", and selects one of them. That referee gets a notification and can now open the match and enter the score from their own phone.
Who Can Assign Referees
Referee assignment is restricted to the competition organizer (owner) — the account that owns the competition.
The assign-referee server check matches the request against the competition's owner specifically. Co-organizers may see the assign-referee option in the app, but the request can be rejected for anyone who is not the owner. If you are a co-organizer and assignment fails, ask the competition owner to assign the referee.
What an Assigned Referee Can Do
Being assigned to a match is what grants a referee the right to manage that match. The app authorizes a referee to score a match only when the match's referee list contains an entry whose linked account matches the signed-in referee.
- A referee can enter and edit the score only for matches they are assigned to and linked on.
- Assignment is per match — a referee assigned to one fixture has no scoring rights over other fixtures in the same competition.
- The competition organizer (owner) and competition admins can always manage matches regardless of referee assignment.
Once a referee is assigned and connected, they handle the result the same way an organizer does. See Enter a Match Score for the full scoring flow.
Related Guides
Once assigned and connected, a referee enters the result the same way an organizer does — and it counts immediately.
An assigned referee can also run the live clock and record events for that fixture.
The full match lifecycle — live mode, score entry, events, lineups, and finalising a competition.