The project was the brainchild of Italian judo referee Roberta Chyurlia alongside International Judo Federation (IJF) referee supervisor Giuseppe Maddaloni, a gold medallist in the sport in the men’s under-73 kilograms category at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Roberta Chyurlia, whose father Pascal Tonino Chyurlia was also an IJF referee, said the project had been a great success so far this year.

"Before each national championships we have training sessions with referees and national team coaches and we have even created a ‘young referees project’ to involve younger generations," said Chyurlia.

"They are benefitting from both online and mat-based lessons held during regional meetings."

The project began in Naples with athletes from national senior and junior teams along with 15 young referees under the age of 30.

It then continued with a national seminar in the south of the country in May, before moving north to Bergamo in July.

The project engaged 200 referees nationally.

"We are also collaborating with the Italian School of Sport and at our most recent course we delivered a refereeing session to some of our best Olympic athletes of several generations, including Ylenia Scapin, Roberto Meloni, Lucia Morico, Elena Moretti, Giovanni Carella, Domenico Paduano and IJF academy expert Giulia Quintavalle," Chyurlia added.

"Some of them are involved as referee supervisors at the national championships, supporting the Refereeing Commission and its members.

"Our federation and the coaches of our national team really appreciate the importance of following the refereeing rules and they are always totally engaged, trying to learn all the information that will help our athletes to win in a way that is fully aligned with the rules and intention of our sport."