Led by International Football Association Board (IFAB) Technical Director, David Elleray, and AFC VAR technical experts Ali Al Traifi, Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh, Farkhad Abdullaev and Hakan Anaz, the five-day course included match analysis of more than 20 matches.

Simultaneously, an additional team of VARs worked with a surrogate referee to reinforce the importance of communications, teamwork, the line of intervention as well as VAR protocol and procedures.

The highly-productive five-day course was aimed at identifying talented video assistant referees in Asia and also to expand the current pool of licensed officials, which benefitted 32 elite referees, both theoretically and practically.

The participants dived into the protocol and practicalities of VAR, followed by back-to-back practical sessions at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, where the referees and video assistant referees assessed live match incidents on a mobile VAR station.

The three-day seminar, which saw the participation of 14 men and five women instructors, was aimed at enhancing the quality of refereeing fitness education and training programmes across Asia as well as to increase the number of qualified fitness experts.

Ahead of the event, Member Associations were invited to nominate candidates in accordance to a stringent criteria defined to continue raising the standards of refereeing in the Continent.

A total 25 male and nine female instructors are part of the three-day evaluation from Feb 16-18. The initiative is a pioneer at the world level and was approved by the AFC Referees Committee in April 2018.