Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Batch 2014 of the AFC Project Future Referees development programme started their first course in the Malaysian capital city on Thursday.
Ten men and eight women in the group, the seventh batch in the AFC’s young referees development programme which it introduced in 2007, are participating in the six-day First Development Course.
Yoshimi Ogawa, Director of the AFC Referees Department, congratulated the participants on being selected to participate in this very special programme.
“Over the years the programme has been very successful and many of its graduates have gone on to become FIFA International Referees and Assistant referees,” said Ogawa in his opening speech.
“Many of them have now been inducted to the AFC Panel of Referees and Assistant Referees and are now officiating in AFC’s top leagues and competitions. There were Project Future Referees graduates in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2014 and also in the AFC Asian Cup 2015.”
Ogawa explained the important personal character traits that good referees must have and encouraged the participants to work hard to develop themselves.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for you to improve yourself to become better referees,” continued Ogawa. “You are young, averaging at about 25 years of age and this is an asset to you. You need to know what, where and how to improve. Refereeing experience is important but you also need to learn how to manage yourselves.
“Referees manage people on the field of play thus management skills are vital. Before you are able to manage others, you must be able to manage yourselves in order to improve not only as a referee but also as a person.
“Young referees, men and women, are doing well in AFC. The door of opportunity is always open. Seize this opportunity and aim high. You must have ambition and work hard to be and achieve the best and not only to dream about becoming the best,” concluded Ogawa.
The participants were selected from the AFC U-14 Championship 2014 and AFC U-14 Girls Regional Championships 2014. They will be put through the two-year Project Future Referees programme which consists of four Development Courses.
After the current one, they will attend the Second Development Course in the Maldives in August where they will be given opportunities to referee in the Maldives FAM League.
The Third Development Course will be held in Fukuoka, Japan sometime in March 2016 during the Sanix Cup International Youth Football Tournament. The Final Development Course, which will culminate in a graduation ceremony, is scheduled for September 2016.
Throughout the period, they will be evaluated in several disciplines such as fitness, theoretical and technical knowledge, practical competency, IT and English communication skills.
The current course in Kuala Lumpur is being delivered by FIFA/AFC Referee Instructors Ali Al Traifi of Saudi Arabia and John Chia from Singapore. FIFA/AFC Referee Fitness Instructor C. Ravichandran from Malaysia will be conducting the fitness test for the participants.