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.

The officials were honoured with the award for their outstanding service in raising the standard of refereeing in Asia.

The award is given to match officials who have served at least five years on the AFC Elite Panel and officiated more than 30 matches.

The seminar will see assessors and instructors participate in various exercises focusing on reviewing and updating their knowledge of the referee assessment curriculum.

The seminar will also focus on developing a more accurate and consistent assessment in 2019 while emphasising on new trends in refereeing such as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which marked its debut in the AFC competitions last month during the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.