Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Jordanian Ahmad Yacoub Ibrahim has no regrets getting into football refereeing leaving behind a colourful career in handball that includes a championship for a club he played for a few years ago.
Having been a referee for only two years now, the computer teacher is now convinced that blowing the whistle is what he wants to do for the rest of his sports life.
Ibrahim, who teaches at the Oxford School Jordan, is one of the members of the Project Future Referees Batch 2010 which is attending its First Development Course in the Malaysian capital here on May 26-31.
Project Future is a long-term coaching and refereeing development programme initiated by the AFC as an integral part of the vision of AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam to develop football throughout Asia.
Ibrahim was a playmaker for the Amman Club between 2000 and 2003 before going to university to complete his undergraduate study.
Six years later, he answered the ref calling and on 10 April 2009, he plied his new trade in his first match as a fourth official.
Asked on why he changed to football refereeing and left a successful handball career, Ibrahim said he wanted to progress to the most popular game in his country and the continent.
“I know that I’ve gone quite far in playing handball with my former team having clinched a championship. But I know there lies a better future in football as I believe, as the AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam belives, that the future is Asia.
“Apart from that, you can also say that football is my newly found love,” he said.