Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuala Lumpur: AFC’s women's match officials have been urged to help each other to reduce the gap in their performances to ensure Asia produces a consistent and high standard of refereeing.
A seminar for referees and assistant referees selected for the 2014 AFC Women’s Asian Cup kicked off in the Malaysian capital on Thursday.
The purpose of the seminar is to prepare the officials for duty at the continent’s premier women’s national team competition which will take place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, from 14 to 25 May.
“I’d like to congratulate all of you for being selected to work in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 which will be held in Vietnam,” said AFC Referees Director Yoshimi Ogawa during the opening ceremony of the seminar.
“It’s an honour to be selected to work in this continental masterpiece of women’s football and we at AFC believe you will be up to the great challenges of officiating in this tournament.
“This seminar is a special event because this is the first time we are holding a preparatory course for women's referees quite some time, or to be exact, one month, before the tournament starts. We started doing things this way for the men's referees in 2011 while in the past, the match officials arrived at the tournament venue just a few days before the tournament’s start and then had their preparatory course.
“As you all know, Japan won the recently concluded FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica and three years ago, the Japanese senior team won the Women’s World Cup in Germany.
“This shows that Asia is fast becoming a force to reckon with and you our referees and assistant referees will have to stay at the same pace as this rapid development and progress in Asian football. Therefore we need each of you to strive to make an excellent performance and also try to help each other out and try to minimise the gap in performance among you.
“If you have questions or concerns, please discuss these among yourselves and with the instructors so that you build yourselves from the instructors’ and each other’s knowledge and experiences.”
Various topics will be covered during the seminar including competition regulations and administration, healthy practices in tournaments, players' management, analysis of match incidents, positioning, team work and more.
Apart from the theory sessions above, on-field practical sessions such as light fitness training and test matches are held. A fitness test will also be carried out.
The seminar is instructed by Krystyna Helena Szokolai (Australia), Mayumi Oiwa (Japan), John Chia (Singapore) and Ganesan Maniam (Singapore).