AFC REFEREEING SEMINAR PART 2 BEGINS

Kuala Lumpur: The AFC Refereeing Seminar 2015 Part 2 began with an AFC Referee Instructor Course on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

FIFA/AFC Instructors Ali Altraifi and Shamsul Maidin led the instructors cast for this course. The list was further enhanced by Ray Olivier from Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and Ian Blanchard from the England FA. Also present was guest instructor Keren Barratt also from PGMOL.

The four-day course has 31 participants including three aspiring AFC Instructors.

Consultant to the AFC Referees Department, General Farouk Bouzo, who opened the course, said that the training programme is important for the development of refereeing standards.

He said the theoretical and practical sessions are conducted by experienced and knowledgeable instructors and the participants should seize the opportunity to improve themselves and show their abilities.

They must also realise that they have important roles and duties in the development of referees at the Member Association and AFC levels, he added.

Yoshimi Ogawa, Director of the AFC Referees Department, said football cannot improve if referees do not improve also.

In general, the referees at the recently concluded AFC Asian Cup 2015 were able to meet the expected performance objectives and while the referees themselves have worked very hard to improve, it cannot be denied that a good education programme is also very important to improve refereeing standards, Ogawa explained.

Referees must never be satisfied and must always challenge themselves to improve further, Ogawa said, and referee instructors must aim to constantly develop their competency, knowledge and skills in order to achieve the goal of producing top grade referees.

The AFC Refereeing Seminar 2015 will be conducted in three parts. Part 1, which was held last year, focused on Men Referees and Assistant Referees, while Part 2 comprises Referee Instructor and Assessor courses. There will also be briefing sessions for Video Assessors and Referee Recruiters.

Part 3 is scheduled for the end of February and will concentrate on Women Referees and Assistant Referees as well as Futsal Referees.